As many readers are aware of, you are eligible to receive a free copy of your credit report every year ( David Bach recommends AnnualCreditReport.com ).
The thing is…you’re eligible to receive one free credit report from each of the main bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion).
Sure you could get them all in one shot. But most consist of duplicate information and unless you have reason to believe otherwise (identity theft, a stolen credit card, disappearing from the mailbox bills), you don’t really need them all at the same time.
So some financially savvy folks (like wolf in the article comments) get one credit report every four months. That decreases the time period monkey business (not to be confused with Keith Urban’s Monkeys as his crazy fans call themselves) can happen.
Remember also that this is one free credit report from each bureau for each family member. If you have a social security number (which almost everyone has), then you should check your credit report (and no, you don’t get penalized for checking your own credit report).
That includes your kiddies. As good Moms (and Dads), you look after your children in other ways (keeping them safe from the baddies), extend that to their finances also.