Three little numbers can shape your financial life and hold a heck of a lot of power. Your credit score can affect the rates you receive on home or auto loans. It can be the “yay” or “nay” when submitting applications to rent an apartment or the deciding factor on if you have to have a down payment for your utilities. Your credit score can even be looked at when applying for a job. These three little numbers are actually three very influential, huge numbers that are the gatekeeper to living a better, less expensive life.

Ready for a jaw-dropping statistic? You sure? According to Paul Strassels, author of “Credit When Credit is Due,”  those who are A-credit versus those who are D-credit, throughout their work-life span, will pay approximately $250,000 less in interest. Yes, that is about 233,000 Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers or 501 fancy-pants Apple iPads.

A friend of mine recently told me that she has no idea what her credit score is. She’s too scared to look. *sigh*

Friends, ignorance is not bliss! A credit score is very much like a shadow – wherever you go, it follows. It’s better to face it head on then pretend it doesn’t exist. Once you know what your credit score is, you can come up with an action plan. You just need to take the first tep and that’s finding out what your credit score is. We recommend that you go to www.AnnualCreditReport.com to get your free copy of your credit report.

Do you have any great tips that you’d like to share about how you keep your credit score in it’s “Happy Place”? We’d love to hear ‘em!

Throughout popular culture, the existence of trios is very common.  The blind mice, the Stooges, two trios of Star Wars movies and even Harry, Hermione and Ron!  There is another trio out there that has far more power over you and you may not even know who they are!

The three I speak of are the biggest credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.  They collect information about you and everyone you know, recording what you owe to who and if you make your payments on time.  Now this probably sounds like some terrible Big Brother scenario, but it’s really not a bad thing!  Using this system, it can be determined how ‘credit worthy’ you are to car dealers, mortgage lenders, landlords or even potential employers. 

Why are there three different agencies?  It’s fairly simple, they are businesses like any other and competition is required to keep everything in check.  Having a single agency would be an invitation for errors of all sorts going unchecked.  With three major agencies, information from all can be reviewed and discrepancies will be noted much more easily.

It’s important to be aware of what is on your report as the data relies entirely on the information provided by creditors (banks, credit unions, credit card companies and even landlords) and it is possible that errors can exist that may hurt your chances to be approved for a loan or other items. 

There are many advertisements out there talking about how you can use their website to view your credit report; however the best source (that has no hidden costs) is www.AnnualCreditReport.com.  Here you can view your report for free once per year. I highly recommend you look into it before you find out the hard way!

Are you diligent about checking your credit score every year or only right before you make a big purchase? Let us know in the comments below!

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live life without a huge boulder on your back? Well I believe that most Iowans are moving in that direction. The latest credit card debt report came out from TransUnion and said that Iowans have the lowest credit card debt nationally. Way to go, Iowa!

According to The Gazette, Iowans had an average of $3,807 in debt, which is down from nearly $6,000 just a year ago. This is an enormous achievement for our state and it shows how our local economy is really starting to shape up.

Know what’s cool about low credit card debt? It helps us save more of our disposable income. Cha-ching! I’ve been that person struggling month to month with credit cards. The temptation is always there to live materialistically, but if you can discipline yourself, you can also experience a boulder free life. Take it from me, living boulder free is definitely the way to go!

With the year coming to an end, now is the perfect time to start thinking about your New Year’s resolutions. My suggestion? Make your New Year’s resolution to get out from underneath your credit cards. A good place to start is the easy to use financial calculators on our website. Click here to see what it will take to pay off your credit card balance and what you can change to meet your repayment goals.

We at Linn Area Credit Union are always happy to help you achieve your goals. Please let us what we can do!

Have you started thinking about your New Year’s resolutions yet? Will they be related to your finances?