There are a lot of things to take care of before the year ends. Some are "use it or lose it" benefits, such as funds in your Flexible Spending Account.
I got two emails today telling me to check my credit. One was a friendly reminder about my free annual credit reports from a credit bureau, and the other was from a website trying to get me to pay for credit reports. Of course, the credit bureau wants to sell me additional services and earn a few extra bucks, but the reminder was helpful.
Once every 12 months, you're entitled to a free credit report from each of the 3 major credit bureaus. The report is truly free - no strings attached - although they try to sell additional products as you go through the process. To find out more about this program, see How to Get Your Free Credit Reports.
If you don't order a report every 12 months, you're leaving free and valuable information on the table. You can even stagger your orders throughout the year so you get one from each of the credit bureaus every few months. For many, that's often enough to deal with any problems or errors.
As you figure out how many more times you can go to the dentist before 2010, be sure to give your credit a regular check-up as well.
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