The other day I decided to take advantage of the new law that passed, the one that, as of December 1, gave people in California the right to obtain a free copy of their credit report once every 12 months.

I mean, you could get a free report in the past, but you had to sign up individually with all 3 credit reporting bureaus and agree to a free trial, which, if you didn’t cancel in time, would charge you some membership fee. I didn’t want to risk that process so I never signed up.

The new way doesn’t require you to submit a credit card number—you just go to one site, and then it directs you to the free report for each company. It’s kind of neat, actually, to see your report. And it’s free! It’s also good to know that no one has been secretly using my identity to rack up millions of dollars of debt.

I also learned (well, actually just confirmed) that my credit is in pretty good shape. While I was on the site, I succumbed to curiosity and paid the money required to obtain my credit score. I won’t say any more than that, since I suppose it’s kind of a personal thing, not unlike a woman’s age or weight. But, like those other 2 aspects, I’m OK with where mine is right now; it’s about what I could expect, given my circumstances.

Posted at 9:35 AM |