Knowing your credit score is important. Generally, when talking about credit scores it refers to the FICO score. (FICO stands for Fair Isaac Corporation).

The FICO score is based on many things. Some of the numbers it is based on are: if you were punctual with prior payment, the length of your credit history, credit you recently applied for, the credit types you have, & the ratio of your current revolving debt to the total revolving credit that you’ve got available.

You are entitled to receive a free credit score once a year. You can get these from the three major credit bureaus in the United States. They are Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. If you want it more than once a year though, you might have to pay for it.

Sometimes these companies have special offers where you can get a free credit score. Most of the time, though, these offers are tied to ordering a paid service. If you don’t need the paid service, then it doesn’t pay to sign up to get the credit score for free.

If you see an ad that says you can get a free credit score make sure that you read the fine print to see what you need to pay for.