1. Know When You May Qualify for Better Financial Products
One of the biggest reasons to check your credit scores regularly is to see when you may qualify for better financial products. For example, you may have obtained a credit card with a high interest rate when you had poor credit. If your credit has improved, you may be able to get a card with a significantly lower interest rate. The same holds true for other financial products. If your credit has improved significantly, you may be able to qualify for a lower interest rate on your mortgage, which could help you afford your dream home. Of course, you won’t know how much your credit has improved unless you check your credit score.
2. Respond to Changes In Your Credit More Quickly
If you check your credit report on a regular basis, you will be able to respond to changes in your credit more quickly. For example, you can see when a certain account has been reported as overdue. This will negatively affect your credit score. However, you can take care of this problem by quickly making a payment on the overdue account. If you have a history of late payments, this will still negatively affect your credit. However, your credit scores will not be hurt as much by a historical late payment as an account that is currently overdue.
3. Learn How to Manage Your Finances More Effectively
Making checking your credit into a habit will help you learn how to manage your finances more effectively. When you have a better understanding of what hurts your credit, you will be able to set informed financial goals to improve your situation. The long financial history reflected on your credit report will also help you learn to take a long-term approach to your finances.
4. Prepare for Lender’s Responses to Your Applications
It is easy to be blindsided by a rejected loan application if you haven’t checked your credit beforehand. If you know what the current state of your credit is like, you can be prepared for accepted or rejected applications accordingly. You will even be able to prepare for loan applications that are approved at a high interest rate.
5. Check the Accuracy of Your Credit Report
Credit bureaus go to great lengths to ensure your credit report is accurate. However, mistakes inevitably happen. These mistakes could range from an out-of-date address or a simple typo to a collections account that actually belongs to someone else. It is not unheard of for people to have a collections account on their credit report that actually belongs to someone with a similar name. This can hurt your credit quite badly, and you should report this to the credit bureau immediately.
6. Get Information About Your Current Financial State
It can be hard to get a big–picture overview of your finances that reflects your current financial state. A comprehensive credit report will include your total amount of debt and information about whether you are up-to-date on your payments or not. While this isn’t a complete picture of your finances, it is an important component.
