It is important to be aware of what your credit rating is at all times. The reason is because those who are potentially going to extend credit to you will definitely want to check your credit before they agree to do so. And unless you can afford to pay cash for everything you will ever want to purchase, your credit rating is critical to you having the ability to acquire those things.
There are a couple of major purchases for which you can expect to receive a credit check. The first will be when you get ready to buy or lease a new car. Those selling you that car are not only going to want to know if you can afford the car with the income you currently make; they will also want to look at your credit history. The same goes for someone who is looking to buy a home. A credit check is necessary in order to find out if you are good credit risk.
These creditors are looking to see if you have paid your bills in the past. This is a good indication to them as to whether or not you are likely to pay them the money you owe them at an agreed upon date each month. A credit check is like a snapshot of your financial life up to a certain point.
The good news is that you can do a credit check on yourself before going to apply for credit to buy a car or a home. And if you find some things that you believe would prevent you from being approved there are a couple of things you can do: 1) dispute any inaccurate data and have it removed and 2) create a new history of paying everything on time to help balance out any negative items that might appear.