cheapest credit report - Stumble Forward

Finding the cheapest credit score and report these days can be an easy thing to do these days. However not all online credit sites are the same. For example, at annual credit report dot com they claim to give you the cheapest credit report however once you sign in you can get your free report from all three credit bureaus however the credit score will cost you.

This seems to be the typical way most credit sites are set up however their is one site that is changing all the rules and that is Credit Karma, and in this article I’m going to cover why they have the cheapest credit score online and much more.

The Pro’s About Credit Karma

The first thing that is so great about Credit Karma is that they don’t beat around the bush when it comes to getting your credit score, in fact once you’ve input all of your information they will show you your credit score immediately. Below is a screen shot of my credit score.

Now any site can give you a credit score but the best part about this is that they don’t just give you the score and the report but they also break things down for you and give you report card based on how well your credit is doing. As you can see below my average credit report was givena “B”.

However they don’t just stop their they also break your credit score down and show you where you are excelling at and where you are not. For example in the picture below of my credit score you can see that I’ve been given an A in open credit card utilization and an A in the percent of on time payments. However, I seem to be lacking in the age of my credit and the number of accounts I have.

Next another great feature to this site is that they also compare your credit against others to see how you are doing overall. For example, in my credit report I rank in the top 77% in the Credit Karma community and 79% in my home state of Ohio, and for my age I rank in the top 82%. Not bad at all.

Finally, one of the best things about this site is that they have what it known as a credit simulator. This is a great tool that can give you a lot of what if answers. For example, in the picture below I did a simulation where I showed what would happen to my credit score if I would open a credit card with a $5000 limit. The simulation showed me that my credit score would increase as a result.

However, you can do more than just that. You can also see what would happen if you would file for bankruptcy, go into foreclosure, or if you missed payments on your debts. The simulator may not be exact but it will give you a good idea what will happen to your credit score.

The Con’s About Credit Karma

Of all the things that are so great about Credit Karma their is one down sides I should mention to make this a fair and balance review. The one down side to this site is that they don’t show you what credit bureau your score is being pulled from.

Further more they are not showing you all three credit scores either. The downside to this is that a bank will pull any one of the three scores you have from the credit bureaus and if you happen to have a negative mark on that score it may stop the bank from giving you the loan.

Who Is Credit Karma For

Now that we’ve covered the pro’s and con’s you might be wondering who Credit Karma is for. Their are a few people that fit the type for a site like this. First off, if you are someone that has bad credit this site is perfect for you since it will show you right were your problem areas lie with your credit and on top of that it allows you to run different simulations to show you how you could improve your credit over time.

This could also benefit you if you are looking to open a credit card, get a car loan, or even refinance your mortgage. The report that Credit Karma will give you will show you how lenders might react to your report and what kind of rates you might be able to get.

Finally, Credit Karma makes sense for just the average and ordinary consumer who want to protect and build their credit. If your credit is in danger Credit Karma will let you know and show you ways to protect it.

Call To Action

Is Credit Karma right for you? You might be wondering what is all this going to cost me? The answer is nothing, that’s right. It’s free to sign up with Credit Karma and get started today. With the cheapest credit check around you would be crazy not to get signed up today and get your cheap credit score.

To get started go to Credit Karma and sign up for your free account.

Recently I’ve been searching around the net for ways to get a cheap credit score and report. After doing all of the research, I came up with three possible sites which give you your credit report for cheap and in some cases, your score for free as well.

Before I get started though I should mention that although these sites may mention your score and report, they don’t represent your real number but a close approximation. Your real score is kept by the Fair Isaac Corporation, or FICO. These sites are just a great place to get a cheap credit report online.

www.annualcreditreport.com

Annual Credit Report is a great site to obtain your cheapest credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus, Experian, Transunion, and Equifax. However, if you would like to get your score you will have to pay for each of them.

The cost for getting your score will be around $8 each. By law, you are allowed to receive your free reports every 12 months but the score isn’t included. Also, if you want to view each report you will have to jump through a few extra hoops and sign up for each credit bureau.

www.quizzle.com

With Quizzle it’s altogether different. Unlike the last site, Quizzle only requires you to sign up one time and you are done. With Quizzle you get a lot more than just a report.

First, you get your credit report and score. However, the score is only based on one of the three reporting companies, Experian. In fact, Quizzle gave me a higher credit rating than of the other two.

Second, Quizzle also gives you their own rating. They base this score off of several things including your current mortgage, extra cash you have, your current credit score, and even the appraised value of your home. They base the score out of 100, so the higher your score the better you rank.

Finally, best thing about Quizzle is that it tracks more than just your credit score and report. It also tracks your home value, helps with your mortgage options, helps with budgeting, and also helps you set up an emergency fund or in Quizzle’s terms, a Rainy Day Fund.

As you can see there are many advantages to using Quizzle.

www.creditkarma.com

With Credit Karma again you have to sign up and create an account. Once inside you will get some great and useful tools.

First off, you will be able to see your cheap credit reports, and in this report I noticed my score was different than my Quizzle score but not too far off. In fact, Credit Karma will give you a snapshot of you score and show you even where you fit in as the national percentile, your local percentiles, age percentiles, and by your email address. For me I was in the top 75% percentile on the national average. Pretty cool.

Lastly, the thing I like best about Credit Karma is the Credit Score Simulator. Here you will be able to test ideas on your credit score such as if you were to buy a new car. How would that affect your score? Or if you would refinance your home, how would that affect your score?

You can test a ton of ideas here, everything from going through bankruptcy, to collections, to adding more credit to your credit cards, to closing a credit card, to allowing one account go overdue by 30, 60, or even 90 days.

When it comes to Credit Karma this is definitely one tool you’ll want to play around with.

Which Website Should You Use

In my opinion of all three of these sites I wouldn’t simply use one. I would use all three. This way you can get several different views of what others are saying about your credit situation. In fact all three sites showed me a different credit score.

What sites do you use to check your credit score and report? Leave a comment and tell us about it.

Chris

This post was recently featured on The Carnival Of Personal Finance by Earn What You Spend.

Getting The Cheapest Credit Score: A Credit Karma Review