Hey Baby, what's yo numba?

My phone number? My PIN number? My cup size?...No Fool! Your credit score number!

To me, checking your credit reports and credit score is just as important as getting your annual physical. You want to be sure your body is in working order and you're not on your way to meeting your maker anytime soon. Or do you wait until your symptoms are so bad that you finally drag your butt to the doctor? By then, you might find out it's worse than you thought but could have prevented it if you had just checked in earlier. Amiright?

Checking your credit reports is along the same lines. It seems so easy for strangers to get a hold of your identity now a days. You don't want some Joe Schmo messing up your credit history! You don't need to be paranoid, but you should be guarded. AND it's a lot easier than you may think.

Everyone's seen those stupid FreeCreditScore.com commercials...PLEASE don't do that! Those guys are tools! It's not really free unless you cancel the free 7-day trial before the week is up (otherwise you end up paying $15 a month). You should try out CreditKarma.com. You can get your credit score for free anytime! No strings attached! (Just a side note, I am in no way affiliated with CreditKarma.com, I just think it's a kick ass free site and I want to share the love.)

Credit Karma offers you your free credit score which you can update anytime you log in. It also offers you a Credit Report Card, which is a break down of what formulates your credit score (credit card utilization, percent of on-time payments, average age of open credit lines, hard credit inquiries, etc.)

Unless you plan on living in Alaska off the grid, then having good credit is pretty vital in the adult world. Good credit history and a good credit score is essential if you want to own a home, get a low or 0% interest rate on a car loan, or applying for any other type of credit. Hey, if you plan on saving up and paying for things in cash only, then more power to you! Your credit score wouldn't really matter then. Rock on with your bad self!

Another good site to use is AnnualCreditReport.com. (Again, I am in no way affiliated with this site.) "AnnualCreditReport.com provides consumers with the secure means to request and obtain a free credit report once every 12 months from each of the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies in accordance with the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act)." The three credit reporting agencies are Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. So basically, you can check any of your three credit reports FOR FREE every 12 months.

Here's a cool trick of the trade...you want to stay on top your credit annually, right? And you can only get your FREE credit report every 12 months from each credit agency, right? Check one credit report from each agency every four months! Whoop! There it is! I set myself an email reminder on the 1st for every four months to check one credit report (i.e. every December 1st check Equifax, every April 1st check Experian, and every August 1st check Transunion). If you use the internet or have a Smart Phone, then you can find ways to set yourself email alerts on calendars.

So go look yourself up! Get your financial check up! If you see something fishy, there are multiple ways to inquire and correct it! And if you don't like your number, these sites can help you see where you're falling behind and help you in the areas you need to improve on! :)