Where to Find a Credit Score Simulator for Free
Getting Real About Credit Scores
You’ll find all sorts of articles online about “HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR CREDIT SCORE INSTANTLY!” or “CREDIT TIPS TO RAISE YOUR SCORE ONE MILLION POINTS OR MORE!” or even “HOW I SOLVED ALL OF MY RELATIONSHIP PROBLEMS BY CLEANING UP MY CREDIT REPORT!”
The thing is, your credit score is too important to wait until you feel like you simply MUST improve it “instantly.” Raising your credit score may not solve your interpersonal problems, but financial issues are one of the leading causes of friction in a relationship. And while I love good credit tips as much as anyone, too many websites and commercials overpromise what a few strategic changes can do – at least right away.
It usually takes time to get into credit trouble; it takes some patience and persistence to get out.
The best time to start paying attention to your credit score is now. Don’t wait until you’re trying to take out a mortgage, pay for a wedding, finance a vehicle, or apply for a personal loan. If you’re a regular of Creditry or any of the other Goalry blogs, you already know many of the most powerful ways to raise or protect your credit score. You understand that good credit is about more than bragging rights. It’s even about more than interest rates.
My credit score and my credit report shape the types of choices I have – today, tomorrow, and down the road. My credit score can impact where I can or can’t live, where I can or can’t work, and what I can and can’t do for those I love.
Yes, it’s about financial well-being. And yes, it’s about interest rates and better terms. I could get all lofty and noble and carry on about how money isn’t everything... there are more important things than credit in this world... all I need is this paddle ball game, I don’t need anything else! And that’s true – partly.
Free Credit Score Simulator
The problem is that my finances, my credit score, and my credit report seem to keep effecting all of those “more important” things. For better or worse, that’s simply a reality of the world in which we live. The most responsible thing we can do is to use our resources as wisely as possible in order to give us a fair shot at living our best life. Improving my credit score helps me take better care of the people and things which are truly important to me.
One of the easiest, most effective, and coolest tools to help us do that is the credit score simulator.
What Is a Credit Score Simulator?
There are actually two different types of online tools or apps which we call credit score simulators. The first acts as a sort of questionnaire about your current finances. You tell it about your income, debt, and a few other details, and it estimates your FICO score at the moment.
Now, I’m going to be honest with you. I don’t find this particularly useful. Most of us don’t have those exact numbers in front of us all the time (although hopefully they’re part of our budget spreadsheet). More importantly, it’s simply not that hard to get your actual credit score – or a very close estimate – through Goalry or other reputable financial sites.
But maybe that’s just me.
The way cooler type of credit score simulator is a bit more useful and interesting, in my humble opinion.
What’s The “Way Cooler” Type of Credit Score Simulator?
Have you ever wished you could test out different possibilities whenever you’re about to make a big decision before you actually have to make your final choice?
Imagine you’re trying to buy a gift for that special someone. You don’t have a great track record with showing how much you listen and understand with this kind of thing. Maybe the past few special occasions... well, let’s just say they haven’t been all they should have. Wouldn’t it be cool if you had an app on your phone that would let you play out separate scenarios for choosing Gift A, Gift B, or Gift C? Then, based on the results, you can make the perfect choice the first time and no one else would ever know the difference. You’d start running up “thoughtful and caring” points like nobody’s business!
Or imagine that you’re torn between staying in and studying vs. going out with friends you haven’t seen in forever. You could pull out the app and try both options. It tells you that if you stay in and study, class will be canceled tomorrow. Now you know you can see your friends after all and put in a little extra homework time over the weekend. Or, the app tells you that if you go out with your friends, there’s going to be a surprise quiz tomorrow, or you’ll get called on in class. Now you can make a more informed decision and stay home reviewing your notes after all.
A credit score simulator doesn’t exactly let you time travel (as nice as that might be). But it does let you try out big decisions ahead of time to see what impact they have on your credit score. That allows you to make more informed financial decisions, especially those most likely to impact on your credit score.
When Would I Use a Credit Score Simulator?
Let’s say you’re considering a personal loan to consolidate your current debt. You know it will help your credit score to pay off all the miscellaneous loans you’re having difficulty with, but you’re worried about the impact of new debt in the short-term. A credit score simulator lets you enter your information, then estimates the most likely changes to your credit score if you take out that loan.
You can also look at where your credit would be a year from now if you make all of your payments on time with this new loan. Maybe you’re thinking long-term and want to make sure you can refinance your home if rates hit a certain level or you’re hoping there will be a wedding to finance by then. A credit score simulator can help you anticipate those changes and make more informed decisions as a result.
Maybe you’re worried about the way your credit card company keeps raising your credit limits – the credit score simulator can help you figure out how much this will help or hurt your credit score. Perhaps you’re considering adding a new credit card or two because they each provide different benefits. A credit score simulator could give you a good idea what the impact is likely to be.
You can even gauge the impact of letting a few payments get behind, having your account turned over for collection, or having a vehicle repossessed. While it’s unlikely you’d ever want to choose for these things to happen, there are times we’re forced to pick between unpleasant options. A credit score simulator won’t solve all of your problems or make the decisions for you, but it will help you make more informed choices and avoid unpleasant surprises.
The credit score simulator isn’t magic – it can’t predict every decision you’re going to make or the many unexpected changes which might come up between now and then. But it is a powerful tool for understanding how my decisions are likely to affect my credit report and credit score.
How To Improve My Credit Score?
Of course, you don’t necessarily have to use a credit score simulator to improve your credit score. While the precise calculations used by each system aren’t openly shared, it's no secret which factors are considered. Although different credit score methods have their own minor variations, it largely comes down to paying your bills on time, keeping your balances low, only taking on debt when you have to, and other common sense financial management.
I mean, most of us pretty much know what we should be doing, right? The trick is doing it. The receipts pile up. We can’t remember the passwords for all those accounts. It seems like those guys at work all know more about their investments than we do. The road to YUCK! is paved with all sorts of good intentions... we just don’t seem to be able to keep it all together at the same time.
That’s why Goalry has been spending so much time and so many resources this past year to re-imagining what a personal financial app should do. You probably have an app on your phone that lets you manage your checking or savings account – why not an app that lets you manage all of your accounts?
There are programs and spreadsheets out there to make it easier to develop our own budgets and track our own spending – why not an app that lets you categorize and store spending info in real time, so we don’t have to sit down later and try to remember it all?
Retirement accounts. Investment decisions. Changing credit card rates. Insurance options. Mortgage rates. Even easier access to emergency cash loans when life takes an unexpected left turn. Notifications of changes to any account, investment, or policy affecting me. Helpful tips and insights based on my activity. Brief, easy-to-understand financial advice so I can educate myself a bit while waiting in line at the grocery store or sitting in the waiting room at my dentist.
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Honestly, I think my blood pressure dropped twenty points just by having the option to get pop-up reminders of upcoming due dates.
I pushed to add wacky cat videos, but the boss said it wasn’t that kind of app. Hey, I tried.
Conclusion
Keep your eyes here for details on the upcoming release. In the meantime, let us know if we can do anything to help you connect to resources, insights, or financial tools. Your success is our success. You've got this. It’s time to get started.