5 Important Things to Know About your Credit!

For those of you who regularly read up on the blogs that our library publishes, you would know that August 14 is Financial Awareness Day along with how to celebrate it. Of course, a single day simply isn’t enough for those of us who absolutely love learning all there is about finances. Well, you’re in luck, because November is Financial Literacy Month. That’s right, month. An entire month dedicated to financial literacy. Why? Because financial literacy is important, and building good financial habits (or breaking away from bad ones) can be incredibly challenging.

In this blog, I certainly won’t be able to go over everything to improve your financial education, so I will focus on one important area that is relevant in all of our lives: credit.

Below are five important pieces of information regarding credit:

• Credit scores range from 300-900. The higher your credit score is, the more likely it is that you are perceived by your lender as being capable of paying back your loan. High credit scores are important in order to qualify for mortgages, and being able to borrow large sums of money.
• You can check your credit report for free once a year. Additionally, checking your credit report does not affect you negatively. Hence, it is wise for you to check and take advantage of this to make sure there is no suspicious activity or mistakes on your credit report. Want to check your credit report? You can do so by checking out this link for Equifax and this link for Transunion.
• Ever heard of credit rebuilding companies that promise to fix your credit in only a few months? Does this sound too good to be true? Unfortunately, it is hard to repair your credit once it has been negatively affected, and there is no quick, easy fix. To improve your credit you will want to make your payments on time, paying in full (instead of the minimum), and bringing your balances down.
• Credit reports can be used for more than just borrowing money! Some jobs may request your credit report for employment purposes, and some landlords can use it to determine your trustworthiness. Credit can permeate many aspects of our lives, and is significant for the average Canadian.
• If you’re looking for help managing your debts, because they are simply overwhelming, there are many credit counseling agencies in Canada that can help you with this. Please keep in mind that there is no easy fix, and with that in mind, if you need credit assistance, please check the following link for further support: credit counseling help

For more information on credit, check out this amazing resource which is laden information on everything credit-related. Good luck, and Happy Financial Literacy Month!