Because the federal government requires that each of the three national credit-reporting agencies—Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion—gives you a free credit report every year, consider staggering the receipt of each of your credit reports. That way, you'll get a continuous picture of how your credit picture looks, because the three bureaus feed each other the latest information. You’ll also be able to clean up errors as you find them (because errors can drag down a credit score) and you'll also keep an eye on identity theft.

To get a free copy of your credit report, visit AnnualCreditReport.com.