How Often to Check Your Credit Score

If you're working on building or improving your credit, there's one question you've likely found yourself asking: How often should you check your credit score?

If you're checking too rarely, you may not notice when changes happen. However, constantly looking up your score can cause undue stress, especially if it's not moving like you would expect it to.

There aren't any right or wrong intervals for credit checks, so you'll want to choose a frequency that suits your goals. For instance, people who are actively building credit may want to check their scores more often. Learn more about how often to check credit scores and get practical tips for boosting yours.

How often should you check your credit score?

For most people, checking their credit score once a month is practical. That way, you won't be constantly hovering over your score or stressing about why it's not budging. Moreover, waiting about 30 days between check-ins will give any positive changes you've made time to take effect.

The monthly approach is ideal if you're actively building credit or trying to bounce back after a rough patch. You'll be able to see how on-time payments and lower balances affect your score over time.

If your credit is stable and you're not applying for new accounts, quarterly check-ins may suffice. You may also want to check your score before applying for any major financing.

Does checking your score hurt it?

No. Checking your own score is a soft inquiry, which has no impact on your credit. Only hard inquiries — triggered when a lender pulls your credit during an application — can temporarily affect your score.

What to look for when you check

When you check your score, it's also worth pulling your full credit report periodically to review the underlying data. Look for:

• New accounts you don't recognize
• Incorrect balances or payment statuses
• Hard inquiries you didn't authorize

Errors are more common than most people realize. If you find one, you can dispute it with the relevant bureau to have it corrected.

Tools for monitoring your credit

Several free and low-cost tools offer ongoing credit monitoring. These services alert you when something changes on your report — a new account, a score drop, or a new inquiry — so you don't have to check manually as often.

Kikoff includes credit monitoring tools alongside its credit-building products, so you can track your progress in one place.

Conclusion

Check your credit score at least monthly if you're actively working to improve it. Use a tool that shows you data from all three credit bureaus, and don't hesitate to pull your full report if something looks off. Kikoff makes it easy to monitor and build your credit at the same time.