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How do I Monitor My Credit?

I use Credit Karma notifications to monitor my credit. I signed up for Credit Karma a long time ago. It is free.

I am Monitoring my Credit to fight Identity Theft

I gave them my name, address,  email, phone number, and social security number. They are able to contact two of the three credit bureaus, Equifax and Transunion, and check my credit history with them. They are able to check my credit with a soft credit check. 

Credit Karma Notifications

Once you have a Credit Karma account, you can set up notifications. This is very simple to do. Open Credit Karma go to the menu on the top right. Go down to "Communications and Monitoring". Scroll down. I authorized ID Monitoring, Account Monitoring, Credit Monitoring, and ignored the rest.

I average checking Credit Karma every week or two.

Credit Karma will email you with any significant changes to your credit score and any new credit applications on your account.

Freezing Your Credit

 If you do not plan on opening any more credit accounts you can freeze your credit.  By contacting the 3 credit bureaus, (Equifax, Experian and Transunion)  and requesting they freeze your credit history.   This  will keep  one anyone from accessing your credit history to open up a new account. 

I do not freeze my accounts as I open up a couple of credit cards every year to get the $200 to $1,000 start up bonus that many credit card companies offer.
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