Whenever you are trying to improve your debt situation, whether you are trying to pay down credit cards or refinance your home, it can help to have a solid idea of where you stand. Being able to see your situation, visually laid out for you, can give you a starting point. This can be very helpful as you formulate a plan to improve your finances. One of the tools available to you is Credit Sesame. This is a web site that is completely free to use (no credit card information required). You can get a peek at your consumer credit score, and even get access to offers that can help you on your quest to get out of debt, buy a home or refinance your current mortgage.

Assessing Your Current Situation

First of all, Credit Sesame uses information from Experian to put together a credit profile for you. You can see your consumer credit score and credit rating — according to Credit Sesame, I have excellent credit. Credit Sesame’s intuitive interface makes it easy for you to look at various aspects of your financial situation. You can look at your total loans and debt (including your mortgage), as well as view your monthly payments, and see your debt-to-income ratio. Even your home’s current value is available in some cases (mine, however, is not available from the eppraisal.com partner).

Credit Sesame is a great tool for tracking your credit profile; once you know what the situation is, you can make an informed decision about how to improve matters.

Saving Money on Your Home Loan

Credit Sesame can also help you save money on your home loan (and credit cards). Using the information in your profile, you can get help finding the best mortgage rates for your profile and situation. When I clicked for more information about refinancing my mortgage, Credit Sesame found 43 scenarios that would help me save money.

The first offer, a 10/1 ARM mortgage with a fixed rate of 4.5% for 10 years, would save me almost $144,000 over the life of my loan, lower my monthly payment by $795! Credit Sesame also shows you closing costs and your break even point. In the case of the first loan proposal, I would have to come up with just over $2,300 in closing costs and it would take just 3 months to break even if I make the decision to refinance by home loan.

Credit Sesame also lists other options, including a 30-year loan that would lower my payments by a similar amount and allow me to break even in 4 months (due to the slightly higher closing costs). This is obviously a better option than the first proposal.

The great thing about Credit Sesame is that it actually offers you information about the best mortgage rate you would likely receive based on your credit profile.

You can save money in other ways as well. Using the “optimize” option, you can find other loan options, such as Lending Club, that can help you pay off your credit card debt with the help of different financing options — all while saving you money over time and locking you in to a timeframe for getting out of debt. Also, you can assess your options for buying a home with the help of Credit Sesame. See how much you are likely to be approved for, as well as different payment scenarios and options.

Bottom Line

Credit Sesame offers you a tool to help you track your credit profile, as well as find ways to optimize your payments so that you save more in interest, and get out of debt. You can adjust possible scenarios based on your goals, and your current profile, so that you get the most accurate information possible.