One of the most important things you’ll need to do post bankruptcy, if you have any interest in bouncing back, will be to pull your credit reports. I’ve already covered how to get free credit reports previously (legitimately free credit reports), but you will also need to be aware of your FICO score.

Your FICO credit score (Fair Isaac Corporation) is the score that most lenders use to determine your credit worthiness. Unfortunately, you won’t even know what your credit score is simply by pulling your credit reports, because it usually isn’t included. Most of the time you will have to pay for your credit score, even if you are entitled to free credit reports.

The most reliable place to get your credit score, in my opinion, has been www.myfico.com. Two related events are taking place at My Fico currently:

1.  If you sign up for Score Watch, which is a credit monitoring service, you will receive your FICO score free with the service for 10 days. After that you need to cancel or you will be billed $12.95 a month, which is actually quite reasonable. Maybe you don’t think you need credit monitoring, but if you have filed bankruptcy, you really do. Most bankruptcy filers find a number of errors on their reports that only make repairing credit that much more difficult.

2.  If you join the forum at My FICO, you can take the FICO Fitness Challenge, which involves setting a goal in October for your desired FICO score by the end of the year, and taking steps to reach that goal. Even if you haven’t filed bankruptcy, if you feel that your credit may need some work, it may be beneficial to take part in the FICO Fitness Challenge. According to My FICO, the Consumer Federation of America found that consumers could save 28 billion a year in credit card finance charges, just by increasing their credit scores by 30 points.

If you have filed bankruptcy, acquiring your credit reports, your FICO credit score and even taking part in the FICO Fitness Challenge could help out quite a bit in fixing the dent in your credit that the bankruptcy caused. Not knowing these things or taking these steps could end up costing  you more and making the process of credit repair that much more difficult. (And longer.)

First of all, Michael Jackson didn’t need credit. People gave him stuff just for being the King of Pop. I’m guessing that MJ probably had no clue what a FICO score was, nor did he care. Yet, if he wanted credit, he definitely wouldn’t have any problem getting it. Even after all the debt is cleared, his estate is still worth more than I might see in 4 Miss Bankrupt lifetimes.

Second, who in their right mind ever considered pulling a credit report (until now, of course). Are there any creditors out there that would’ve told him, “Sorry Mr. Jackson. We can’t give you King Tut’s intestine because your credit sucks? Uh, no. Everyone knew he was good for it.

If anything, this should give those of us with less than stellar credit scores a little hope. Maybe there is a halfway decent life out there for us regardless of what FICO says. At the end of the day, as long as our children are taken care of and not left with a burden of our own debt, then maybe we can stop freaking out about our FICO scores and worry less.

I don’t know. Still feels good to say it though. I might be broke, but my credit score is still better than Michael Jackson’s.

No disrespect or anything. God knows, there isn’t too much I can do better than Michael Jackson…well except dancing. I’m probably a better dancer…