With everything on your current “to-do” list, get ready to add just one more thing: learning about your credit score. My credit score? Really? Is it really that important to know the ins and outs of this mysterious number?

The answer to these questions is a resounding yes. There are many fictional ideas about credit scores that many people adopt as fact. It’s important to understand what is fact and what is fiction about your credit, and more specifically your score.

Before beginning, common uses of credit scores should be discussed. Scores are used to establish how much can be loaned to you. In turn, a credit score will factor into your interest rate percentage (for credit cards, car payments, etc.).

Ok, now let’s get down to the fictional “nitty-gritty!” People are often unaware that one person can actually have more than one credit score assigned to them. It’s commonly thought that people only have one definitive score. With three major credit bureaus, however, you may have three different credit scores. Each bureau calculates a score differently (though the variation is minimal). Scores used by a lender will depend on the bureau used.

Another faulty concept people have about credit scores deals with salaries. If you get paid more at your job, the extra income will not help with credit repair, as it’s commonly thought. It doesn’t matter how much money you make. Credit scores depend only on your personal credit history, not on the wage you make at your job.

Similarly, people will think credit repair happens in paying a large chunk of money to creditors all at the same time). This is done in a quick attempt to improve credit scores-but it doesn’t really help. Credit repair happens over time for the most part. Chunks of money being dumped on a creditor always help, but steady payments are a better way to improve your credit score in the long run.

After reading some fact and fiction on credit you may be interested to find out exactly what your score is. Sometimes people think the number can be accessed for free because of commercials they’ve seen. But the commercials refer to credit reports, not credit scores. It typically costs 15 dollars each time you request your score.

Most experts recommend checking on your credit score once a year. This is recommended because it costs money to obtain your actual credit score. And it’s not always necessary since your credit report can be obtained through many online businesses for free (once a year). And so crunching the numbers and knowing the facts on your credit score (as your poindexter counterparts do) may be worthwhile after all! Save yourself financial drama in the end by learning everything there is to know about your credit score.

At Nitro Credit, we specialize in credit repair, credit help, improving your credit score, and credit restoration. We will help you start over and help increase your FICO score.