By now, most people should know it's possible, even easy, to get a free credit report ( www.annualcreditreport.com). What has been harder to come by for free is your credit score.
And that's too bad, because your credit score is really what lenders use to figure out your creditworthiness. The higher your score, the more likely you are to qualify for the lowest rates when buying a car or house or signing up for a credit card.
The credit reporting agencies will provide your score for a fee, but I know of only one place to get the information for free, Credit Karma.
My phobia of putting my Social Security number online - as well as having a pretty good feeling about my credit - has kept me from testing the site. But this week, after a reader left a message on my voice mail asking for help getting her credit score, I gave it a whirl.
But only after reading the not-so-fine-print carefully.
Credit Karma doesn't store the full Social Security number in its database. Nor does it require a credit card number, so mysterious charges shouldn't start showing up on my statements. It doesn't have to charge me because it makes money from advertising on the site.
It was, however, a little scary how fast my financial information - mortgage loan,auto loan, etc. - came up once I registered at creditkarma.com and provided or confirmed various information. Hello, Big Brother.
It was nice to see that I was right about my score. Nicer still, however, for the site to show me how I could possibly save money on what I did owe. It suggested a new credit card, a new mortgage, a different bank and another auto loan. It grades your credit acumen as well. (Mama taught me not to brag, otherwise I'd share mine.) And it explains what factors influence your score and how they are weighted such as on-time payments, how many open accounts you have and how far back your credit history goes.
There's also a blog with financial advice, but one of the cooler features is a credit score simulator. Change any factor - add a loan, make a payment late - and you can see the hit your credit score takes.
The caveat here is that Credit Karma uses data from TransUnion, one of the three credit reporting agencies. Each agency uses its own formula, so a lender who checks Experian or Equifax may get a different score, though it should be in the same ballpark.
A story in the paper this past week about the next round of rebates that will be offered to those who buy energy efficient appliances brought a call from a concerned reader. Our story said buyers would have to go online to do all the needed paperwork. So what, she asked, were people supposed to do if they didn't have a computer.
I put that question to Seth Effron, spokesman for the N.C. Energy Office, and he supplied a toll-free number: 877-379-7323. Don't bother calling it before June 1. It won't be activated until then, which is when the rebate starts.
If you want to take advantage of the stimulus program, scope out the kind of air-conditioning system, gas furnace, water heater or appliance you want now, and make arrangements to buy it. Just don't put the order through until June 1.
The amounts of the rebate vary by what you buy, and all the details haven't been worked out. Effron says once the nitty gritties are ironed out, the info will be on the energy office's website, energync.net . For those without computers, just keep an eye on the paper as we get closer to June 1.
