MoneyWisdom Blog

Even when you practice good fiscal fitness, your credit score can suffer a knock-out. Sometimes the steps you think make financial sense can actually harm you, even if you pay your bills on time, keep your debt to reasonable levels, and make purchases that are responsible, not frivolous.

That’s all good stuff and goes a long way toward establishing a solid financial footing. But there are things you may be doing — often with the best of intentions — that you could hurt your credit score.  

Check out these five ways your actions could hurt your credit score.

Active duty military and National Guard members take note: effective October 31, the three major credit reporting agencies — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — will provide you with free electronic credit monitoring services to help you spot and combat identity theft.

I have a confession. I’ve worked in financial services for the past four years, but I haven’t checked my credit score in over a decade.

I’ve been a member of Hanscom FCU that entire time, but it wasn’t until I started working here this summer that I realized how risky it was to be in the dark about my score. I checked it once when I was about 20, and have basically just closed my eyes and hoped things worked out.

We regularly offer free classes to the public, called Lunch and Learns, on a variety of money topics. One of the most popular is our seminar on credit scores. The class takes the mystery out of understanding a credit score, and people have an opportunity to get their questions answered. 

Hanscom Federal Credit Union offers free credit report and score evaluations because we know how much money they can save our members. More importantly, our credit report experts will give you specific actions you can take to improve your credit report, raise your credit score, and avoid credit problems in the future.

If you've never reviewed your credit report before, here's a peek at what will happen during the meeting:

You’ve got the skills. You’ve got the experience. But you’re worried your credit reports may hold you back from getting that dream job. And to make matters even more aggravating, you have no idea what exactly the hiring company will be looking for on the reports. While it’s not possible to say what any particular company looks for on a credit report when making hiring decisions, there are certain items that employers frequently mention as credit-related reasons for passing over certain candidates. Here’s a list along with the steps you can take to address the impact of the negative information.

As a not-for-profit financial cooperative, Hanscom Federal Credit Union is accountable to its members — that's you! — and not a profit-driven group of shareholders. This means it's in our best interest for our members to have financial tools at hand and the wisdom to make sound decisions about their money. When our members do well, we do well, and it's why we offer free financial education for anyone who's looking for a secure financial future.

Like millions of Americans, I regularly field calls from scammers who threaten me with jail time because I haven't paid my taxes or who tell me the police are coming to my workplace to serve me with papers for a bogus debt. However, earlier this week I got a call from a fraudster who scared me when she said the last four digits of my Social Security number.

My husband and I got into some financial trouble several years ago due to a job loss. We watched our credit card bills grow and our credit scores tank. It was a depressing time in our lives.

So we put away all the credit cards and changed to a cash-only lifestyle. Though it took a few years, my credit score is very close to 800 now. I went from being unable to qualify for credit to purchase a badly-needed new refrigerator, to opening up a mailbox full of credit card offers. I sleep much better now than I did then. Life is definitely much better with a good credit score.