Over the past few years I’ve had several important decisions to make: where to live, what path my career would take, and how I would support my family. One of the most important was where we wanted to live. There were plenty of new communities springing up in and around the city, but affordable options were limited. We stayed with friends and relatives in the area for awhile until I found an apartment to rent that was affordable and would allow me to set aside savings.

Until I considered buying a home, I had never really thought much about my credit history. When I ordered my credit report, I was shocked to see thousands of dollars charged to a credit card I never applied for. The identity theft probably happened when we moved — someone may have taken a pre-approved credit card offer from mail that went to an old address. Luckily, the creditor was very cooperative once I let them know. It took about six months and a lot of letter writing on my part, but I was eventually able to get the charges removed and repair the damage to my credit. Because of this experience, I now realize the importance of regularly monitoring my credit report. More >