Have you ever taken a look at your own credit report? Many people do not have the habit of checking their own credit reports.

Every one should make it a point to view their credit report at least once a year. Today, the Internet has make gaining access to your credit reports much easier than before.

So what is a credit report? Actually, it should be called reports. There are three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion ) in the United States and they don’t share information with each other. So you actually have 3 credit reports to view.

Basically, the following information is found in each of the report:
- Your name and your spouse’s name(if any).
- Where you live,
- where you work,
- where you used to live (and used to work).
- Your social security number,
- Your phone number,
- Your birth date.
- A list of your  credit accounts
- When you’ve paid your bills (on time, late, late by more than 30 days, late by more than 60 days, etc) - How much total credit you have available.
- Whether and to whom you’ve made an application for credit in the past six months.
- Which companies have requested and obtained your credit report.
- Other records such as bankruptcies, foreclosures, repossessions, court judgments, convictions, and  tax liens.

Positive information stays on your credit report indefinitely, which is a good thing.

Most negative information should be deleted after seven years. There are exceptions though. Some types of bankruptcy can stay on your report for ten years. If one of your credit reports missed out any positive information, you should contact the appropriate credit bureau as soon as you can. The same rule apply if you found negative records that are older than seven years or banckrupcty records that still appear in your reports after ten years.

You can get your credit reports at each of the credit bureau websites.

Equifax – http://www.equifax.com,
Experian - http://www.experian.com,
Transunion - http://www.transunion.com

You should be able to get your free report each year for free. Subsequent access will require a nominal fee, which varies from state to state.

Each of the credit bureaus also offer you access to all the three reports for a nominal fees. If you can afford to pay, it can save you a lot of time.

So go ahead and do it now! Find out what your score is, it could make or break your financial future.

For many people, credit is a chicken and egg problem. They can’t get approved for credit because they don’t have a credit history. However, they can’t the process of building a good credit history if they cannot get approved for credit. Thus it is imperative that you start building your credit history as early as possible, preferably in your college days.

For college students, credit history is not an issue. Many credit card companies view them as low risk realtive to other young people with no credit. Which is why many credit card caompnaies reqgulary held credit card fair in college campus, especially during the enrolment searsons.

It may sounds incredible but it is actually easier to get approved for credit while you’re in college then after. The high interest rates asscoaited with student credit card will be higher than normal but that is not really an issue if you always pay your credit card bills in full and on time.

The important thing is to use it for credit building purpose. For each purchase that is charge to the card, pay back in full and on time. This proves to the credit card companies that you’re responsible and of low credit risk. And it will be reflected in your credit report.

When the time comes to buy your new house or new car, you will have no problem getting a loan with favorable rates.

Click here to see our full listing of Student Student Credit Card