Your credit score is used in many different areas of your life, but it can be one of the most difficult pieces of personal information to obtain about yourself. In many cases, you will be required to pay a fee to review your credit score, which is closely held by the agencies that controls that information. If you would like to know what your credit score is but do not want to pay for the information, you can estimate your credit score and figure out where on the scale you would fall.
Calculate Your Total Debt
The first step in estimating your credit score is to calculate the amount of debt you are carrying. This figure should include all of your credit card debt and any loans that you have outstanding. A significant portion of your credit score is based on the amount of debt you are carrying, so having an accurate figure will give you a better estimation of what your actual credit score would be.
Determine Amount Of Credit Available
The next step is to determine the total amount of credit that you have available to you. The ratio of the amount of credit used versus the amount of credit available is also taken into consideration during the calculation of your credit score. If you are using more than 30% of your available credit, you can expect your credit score to be lower as you are considered to be more of a credit risk.
Review Your Recent Payment History
Your payment history over the past two or three years will also have a great effect on your credit score. If you know that you have been making all of your payments on time and have not defaulted on any of your credit accounts in the last few years, then you can expect your credit score to be reasonably high. If you have missed some payments or have neglected to pay a creditor, then your credit score may be much lower than you expect.
Taking all of these factors into consideration will give you a good approximation of whether your credit score would fall into the Excellent, Average, or Poor credit categories. It is always beneficial to know what your credit score should be and estimating your credit level will only take a short amount of your time. Having a reasonable estimation of your credit score will help you make sound financial decisions and provide you with a financial goal for the future.