When you think it is that time of year to access my annual credit report, you are looking for a free source of this information.

You have a few options, and the most common is a government-sponsored service. While this does provide you with credit reports, you do not get free credit scores. To access your scores using this service, you will need to pay each of the credit bureaus for each of your three scores.

Another option is by signing up for a trial membership at one of the many credit-monitoring services. Some companies that you see advertising online will give you your credit reports and credit scores free as an incentive for trying out their services. This information is free, and you will need to cancel your trial membership during the time specified or you will be billed each month for their services.

Ideally, you want to review both your credit reports and your credit scores as issued by each of the three major credit bureau. This is commonly called a 3-in-1 report and they are available free using the trial membership method mentioned above. If you see that you do not have all three scores and reports, simply repeat the process until you get what you need. A report like this has a retail value of at least $30, so it is time well spent.

If you do not want to see your scores, then accessing your reports from "annualcreditreport dot com" is perfectly fine. They only provide this free service once each year, so you may want to explore other methods to access your information more than annually. It is suggested that you review your credit profile at least twice a year, but some choose monthly monitoring to stay on top of their records.

When you have your information, do not forget to carefully review each entire report from each credit bureau. Your information is kept at three separate agencies and each will have different records. This means there are three opportunities for mistakes on your records. Review your entire file carefully and see if you need to request any corrections with any of the bureaus.

Another common mistake is not reviewing the credit reports if someone sees they have high credit scores. It is very possible to have high scores with negative and/or mistaken information on one or more of your reports. Having high scores is good, but they are only a very small part of your complete credit profile. Whenever you allow access to your credit files, that party will definitely be reviewing your reports along with your scores. Your reports contain your history, and this is why they are so important.

Now that you know what to get, go out and get it. If you see you do not get three reports and three scores, simply try again, as these complete reports are definitely available free from many credit-monitoring services. I recommend using a method that allows you access to free reports and scores, but you can pay for it if you prefer.