Let’s say you have a friend named Alex. One day, Alex asks if he can borrow $5 from you and promises to pay you back in a week. Now, you know Alex is good for it because he always keeps his promises, so you lend him the money. A week later, Alex returns your $5 just like he said he would. In the future, if Alex needs to borrow money again, you’d be more likely to lend it to him because he has proven to be trustworthy. A credit score is kind of like that. It’s a number that banks and other lenders use to decide if they should lend…

Your credit report is like a snapshot of your financial behavior. There are three main companies in the U.S. — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — that collect information about your financial habits to create this picture. This report includes things like how often you pay your bills on time and how much you owe. Good news is, you can get a free copy of your credit reports from each of these companies every year. To do this: Go to a website called AnnualCreditReport.com. This is the official place where you can get your free credit reports. When you get to the website, it will ask for some details about you.…