Managing your credit--and your credit score--is an important part of your overall financial health. Equifax, Trans Union and Experian are the three credit-reporting companies, and many online companies will sell your a copy of your credit report. You can obtain a free copy each year from annualcreditreport.com, but this report may not include your actual score. This does show you if all the information used to determine your score is correct.

Calculating Your Score

You can estimate your credit score by considering a number of factors. You can raise your credit score by paying all your bills on time, keeping a low balance on your credit cards and accounts, and establishing a good record over several years. Unless there is false information on your credit report, your number should be closer to 800. On the other hand, if you have a bankruptcy, foreclosure, repossession or garnishment on your record, it will be on the lower end, closer to 500. You also lose points for maxing out a credit card, entering into a special repayment program or receiving help through a consolidation program. You can use the bankrate.com link in Resources below to estimate your credit score.

Checking Your Score

Estimating may be helpful, but the only way you'll know your score is to get a copy. Remember that your credit report doesn't contain your credit score, so it's worth joining a program with someone you already do business with and trust. Start by checking if your bank or one of your credit cards offers free credit monitoring. Many banks and credit card companies offer credit reports (along with monitoring) to their customers for free or for a low membership fee. These typically let you check on your reports and score when you need to. With a program like this, you can see how each account is affecting your score and you can catch problems early on. It helps you compare all your balances together as well. Keeping low balances on your cards and always paying on time raises your credit score.

Source:

Annual Credit Report

What Do Credit Score Mean?

American Express Credit Monitoring for Card Holders

Resource:

FICO® Score Estimator - Get Started