Mustache that credit monitoring monthly fee!

[Alex in Virginia]

Hi All!

It's important to me to have my credit reports automatically monitored so that I will be alerted if/when there's any activity.  That lets me keep my credit record clean from errors and from fraud attempts.  So I have not minded paying the $13 a month that the service I have charges.

BUT... a few days ago I got the heads-up from Kiplinger Magazine on how I can get this for free.  So, I have mustached that $13 monthly credit monitoring fee.  That's another $156 a year sliced off my living expenses and added onto my stash.

Here's what I did:

(1) registered at creditsesame.com to have my Experian credit report monitored... for free.
(2) registered at creditkarma.com to have my TransUnion credit report monitored... for free.
(3) went to annualcreditreport.com to get my full credit report copies for 2013... for free.
(4) and phoned the for-fee monitoring service to say.... BYE BYE!

Cheers!

Alex in Virginia

[FreeBy45]

Thanks!

I just downloaded the creditkarma and creditsesame apps on my iphone and set up an account. These look like great services.

I've been using the free credit report website for quite some time but its so nice to see the actual score for free too.

[GuitarStv]

Having never used/heard of credit monitoring services, how are they any different from regularly checking your credit card statement?

[GoStumpy]

Having never used/heard of credit monitoring services, how are they any different from regularly checking your credit card statement?

They check to see if someone has opened a NEW credit card, or any other form of credit, in your name... You wouldn't even know until you went and applied for a mortgage only to find your credit score trashed!  Then you need to file for identity theft etc...

Same goes for credit monitoring, they only let you know, but they'll let you know earlier.


Personally, I'd rather go with freezing my credit so nobody can open anything in my name, I can easily unfreeze it when getting a mortgage :)

[thrifted]

this is all so helpful. 

i registered for creditkarma and was so happy to learn that my transunion credit score was 692.  when i tried getting a credit card last year, i didn't even have a score.  i registered for annualcreditreport.transunion.com and it estimates how early you can expect delinquencies to be removed from your credit report: 07/2014 for my foreclosure!! it was such a painful time and such a huge mistake.

[kkbmustang]

This is great thanks! Have been wondering if the $18 monthly fee for mine was worth it. Now I know it isn't. Will call to cancel Monday morning!

[kkbmustang]

Will call to cancel Monday morning!

I cancelled this bad boy and I hate to admit it, but I got a tad snippy with the customer service rep. After politely declining two rebuttals/offers of a discount, I finally snapped. Then the rep got snippy. Understandable. Either way, I'm $18/mo richer now.

[lifehacker]

THANK YOU SO MUCH.  I cancelled my credit monitoring service awhile ago because the $150/yr didn't make sense but really liked having that protection (particularly given that my business is tied to access to capital/loans).  Awesome free credit reports.  And most importantly, super easy!  And LOVED the alert systems.  It's worth mentioning - if you can edit your post - that on the creditsesame.com site, you have to activate the email alerts before they send (by clicking on "alerts").

I'll definitely be checking on other posts you've written! :)

[PantsOnFire]

Nice! 

I had Discover Card monitoring my credit for a while, since I knew we'd be house shopping soon and the slightest fluke on your report could have big ramifications when you apply for a mortgage.  I think it was $8.99 a month or so for the service.  Once we settled, I nuked the credit monitoring to get my $9/month back (that's half a box of wine!) but now I get to have a win-win.  :-)