# What's the easiest way to find out my credit score? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 14, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-easiest-way-to-find-out-my-credit-score/557158 "2010-10-14T18:01:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-easiest-way-to-find-out-my-credit-score/557158/1 "2010-10-14T18:01:49Z")
I don’t mind if I have to pay some reasonable amount of money. What I don’t want to do is have to remember to cancel some lifetime service repeatedly and check my credit card bill to make sure it’s over. ---
**Author:** ![Caldazar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Caldazar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caldazar)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-easiest-way-to-find-out-my-credit-score/557158/2 "2010-10-14T19:04:29Z")
If you genuinely need to know your credit score, I’ve found the easiest way is to go to Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion and pay for a score report. Each company will usually provide the option of obtaining a score report from all three institutions for an additional fee; otherwise they will provide only their own company’s score. Of course, if you only want a credit report, that can be had for free ([http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre34.shtm](http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre34.shtm)). ---
**Author:** ![Jorge\_Burrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Jorge\_Burrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jorge_Burrito)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-easiest-way-to-find-out-my-credit-score/557158/3 "2010-10-14T19:12:56Z")
Unless you are lucky enough to know a friend in the banking business, the only place you can get your true FICO credit score from is [myfico.com](http://myfico.com). I think it is about $45 to get it. Any other credit score you get from either the bureaus themselves or other sites are only approximations of your credit score and are typically known as FACO scores. They can be higher or lower than your actual FICO credit score, this depends on the company you get it through and your individual credit report. You can get a completely free score from [http://www.creditkarma.com/](http://www.creditkarma.com/), but their score seem to run anywhere from 10-30 points too high for most individuals. ---
**Author:** ![Plan\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Plan\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Plan_B)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-easiest-way-to-find-out-my-credit-score/557158/4 "2010-10-15T01:53:44Z")
Thanks. I just went to [creditkarma.com](http://creditkarma.com) and got a pretty bad score - 688. That’s funny if the real score is lower, as you say. The elaboration of it is that it’s so low because I only have four credit accounts. That in itself is funny because I have two credit cards and one mortgage; I have no idea what the fourth one is. Also, they don’t seem t care how much money you have. But I guess they know what they’re doing. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-easiest-way-to-find-out-my-credit-score/557158/5 "2010-10-15T02:35:51Z")
I suggest you go to [Annualcreditreport.com](https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp) for a free look at your credit. It’s not a credit score, but usually you will be given the chance to purchase your FICO score for a reasonable price if you want that in addition to the free one.