I got your free credit report right here!

I'm sure more than a few of you already know about this, but since it started today, it bears a reminder.

Under the FACT Act amendments to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you are entitled to one free Personal Credit Report in a 12 month period. To request this free annual report, you may contact the Central Source on-line at www.annualcreditreport.com.

You can also contact the Central Source to request this free annual disclosure by calling toll free (877) FACT ACT or by using the mail request form available at the Central Source Web site.

So we can all get free reports now once a year from each of the big 3. It's recommended that you stagger them every 4 months, so it's Experian on 1/1, Trans Union on 5/1, Equifax on 9/1, and then Experian again on 1/1, etc. They'll try and sell you stuff with the info, but the basic report (without credit score) is free.

I got freaked out a few months ago when some jackass opened an account at an internet auction site in my name with a Colorado address. Looks like he didn't do anything else to mess up my day, though.

Got it? Get it. Do it today. The first is a great reminder day.