I cannot emphasize enough the importance of monitoring your credit on an ongoing basis. I also believe that you should skip costly credit monitoring fees if there are free resources available that can help you to do it yourself.

I have another free credit monitoring tool for you that I personally use in addition to Credit Karma (as mentioned in the last post). As previously stated, Credit Karma provides a variety of scores, but primarily focused on the credit reporting agency TransUnion. Although many lenders and companies that pull credit still rely on TransUnion, I am finding that the other credit reporting bureaus are also gaining in popularity, so it is important to know what your scores with those agencies are as well.

Credit Sesame is another newer website that provides totally free, no obligation credit scores on an ongoing basis. The score is based on Experian, another one of the primary three credit reporting agencies that creditors utilize.

There are many things to love about Credit Sesame:

1. It’s FREE!
2. You can check your credit score as often as you would like, but the score is only updated once per month
3. Your credit score is not affected by your checking it using Credit Sesame
4. Credit Sesame provides personalized credit card and other offers based on your credit level
5. Credit Sesame sends emails to let you know when your monthly score has been updated and alerts by your request if your score goes under or over a certain number
6. Credit Sesame will provide results on whether your credit score went up or down, when the score was last updated, what changes occurred, etc.
7. You receive an updated report that states what factors are influencing your credit score, what level of influence each factor has on your credit, and specific tips on what you can do to improve your score in each category
8. Credit Sesame users receive a digital badge that can be shared via social media or their website to show their participation on the website. They receive updated badges as they improve their credit level. (FYI—exact credit scores will not be shared and use of these badges are completely optional)
9. Credit Sesame users can get rewarded when they invite and get friends to join

Credit Sesame only provides numerical scores and not actual credit reports. But I consider it to be an excellent budget-friendly alternative to expensive credit monitoring services if you want to monitor your credit score on an ongoing basis and be alerted to potential signs of identity fraud. It also allows you to see how different actions like making a payment or using your credit affect your credit score.