Using Time Wisely

Organized to save money, energy, and time

You are here: Home / Archives for free

Ben & Jerry’s: Free Cone Day on April 12, 2011

by

Photograph Credit: Ben & Jerry's

Are you ready for a free, cool family activity? On Tuesday, April 12, 2011 visit a participating Ben & Jerry’s location to celebrate Free Cone Day! According to the Ben & Jerry’s website:

As a way to thank our customers for their support and to celebrate 33 years of scooping the chunkiest, funkiest ice cream, frozen yogurt and sorbet, Ben & Jerry’s scoop shops are happily giving it away!

If you are fortunate enough to live near a participating location, then I hope you enjoy your free cone on Tuesday. Eat a little bite for me since all the South Carolina locations are too far away for us to visit. (Don’t feel too sorry for me. There’s another inexpensive ice cream deal coming on April 27.)

Credit Score: Free TransUnion

by

Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

Did you survive my lengthy explanation of credit scores? I could spend a couple of weeks explaining the system, but I opted for one lengthy overview.  My goal is to get our documents organized. In organizing, I like to know why these documents are deemed important.

To review, I have shared HOW I get our credit reports and WHERE I can get our Experian credit score for free. Today, I will share how I get our TransUnion credit scores for free.

Once I receive the TransUnion credit report, I review it for errors. Then I visit www.creditkarma.com. Credit Karma is another free service that generates our TransUnion credit score for free. I have registered, and I get periodic notices to remind me to keep checking my credit score.

After logging into my Credit Karma account, I generate my credit score. I also review the comparison graphs which help me evaluate my financial situation. I print out my score and the comparison charts and place them with my credit report. Then these documents are added to my file box #1 in the front file labeled Credit Reports/Card documents. I then put the file away until the next credit report arrives.

Unfortunately, I don’t know of any service that generates your Equifax credit score for free. There are credit monitoring trials for which you could signup, but then you would need to cancel. If you want more information on this topic, I would read the information provided by Moolanomy. I really enjoy reading the financial tips and tricks presented on his website.

You now have some resources to get your credit reports and two of your credit scores for free. Next week, I will cover how I review my credit report searching for errors.

Credit Report: Reporting Agencies

by

Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

Before I proceed any further, I need to clarify that this series on how I file my important paperwork is not meant to suggest that I am a financial adviser or authority.

I will share what I have learned along the way from researching these different topics, but I am not suggesting that your file should be a duplicate of my file. This organizational system is just a suggestion for filing away your important papers to save time when needing to locate a document.

With that said, I will begin with the documents in Box 1. The first pocket houses our credit reports. These reports are obtained from the three credit reporting agencies: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.

You DO NOT have to pay for your credit reports. I choose to request my reports by phone (1-877-322-8228). I like to have the paper version sent to me. This is my preference. If you prefer to request your reports online, the website is www.AnnualCreditReport.com. Here is an excerpt from their website:

You may request your free credit report online, request your report by phone or request your report through the mail. Free credit reports requested online are viewable immediately upon authentication of identity. Free credit reports requested by phone or mail will be processed within 15 days of receiving your request.

This central site allows you to request a free credit file disclosure, commonly called a credit report, once every 12 months from each of the nationwide consumer credit reporting companies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

AnnualCreditReport.com is the official site to help consumers to obtain their free credit report.

We guard your privacy. Please be aware of how you arrived at this site. To ensure that you are visiting the legitimate site, type https://www.annualcreditreport.com directly into the address bar on your browser. You will never receive an email directly from the Annual Credit Report Request Service. For further information please read the Security Policy.

For companies that advertise a free credit report with their service like freecreditreport.com, you are paying for the monitoring service. I do not use a monitoring service since I check our credit reports every four months. I will share next week the schedule I follow when requesting our reports. I do not request them all at the same time because I want to keep an eye on our reports all year. Feel free to ask questions. I will do my best to share my experience or point you in the direction where I would research an answer to your question.