During times of risk, such as preparing credit for applying for a new loan, divorce, or if free monitoring indicates potential identity theft or fraud – then full-on monitoring is worth it. When all is back to status quo, then, drop that expense. It has value, and it is, unfortunately, an exchange of money for something you do not have access to.

Lifelock and their competitors are a convienience-fee business. You can do everything they do yourself for free, and their insurance is so tightly actualized that most identity theft successes while locked are not covered. The insurance is virtually worthless, so its all about convenience.

For me, I negotiate a lower annual rate for one of these credit monitoring services and I use it every month. I like that it notifies me whenever anyone pulls my credit report or anyone opens an account up under my name. I like that I can carefully examine what’s in my credit report and check for inconsistencies. I’ve had to contact the credit bureaus on at least two occasions because accounts that were paid off were still listed as “open.” For example, if you have loans that are transferred to a new entity, sometimes the loan is counted twice instead of once.

So I guess I feel like I get my money’s worth, but I can see both sides of the coin (pros and cons)

I feel your pain. I watch my credit like a hawk, especially now that I have fallen victim to ID theft.

I learned a painful lesson when someone filed a federal and state return, using my social security number, in 2012. As a homeowner, I sought help from my homeowner’s insurance.

I am unlucky and lucky at the same time. Since March, I have worked with a company called IDT911, to combat every fraudulent use of my SSN (at least 20 instances in 2012). To date, I have lost less than $15 to identity thieves. I will not allow them to win anything.

My lesson to everyone is based in something J.D. Roth said a few years ago: “No one cares as much about your money as you do.” Monitor your reports for free until trouble strikes. Then, enlist the pros to help you fight off the thieves. Care about your credit — it’s a HUGE deal.

You CAN view your own credit report without unfreezing. So can current creditors. But they can’t make changes – I phoned Chase to get my credit limit raised on a current card, and they couldn’t approve the increase unless I unfroze my credit (I didn’t).

You might have to unfreeze for job- or rental-related background checks or purchasing insurance, as well as taking out new loans or lines of credit (including store credit cards or financing). I haven’t changed jobs, loans or anything else since freezing, and renewing my auto insurance didn’t require unfreezing.

I did this when my purse was stolen. It was free when I submitted a police report to them. I got a very long pin code that I needed to use to unlock my report, if I was applying for credit myself.

I’m also interested in exploring a credit freeze (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Credit_freeze for explanation). I’m not sure if I have to unfreeze it every time I want to check it (probably – I’m guessing it varies by state law) but it’d still be worth it to me. Credit freezes are best if you’re not anticipating shopping for a mortgage or loan. I’m interested in hearing from anyone who’s done a credit freeze and what their experience was.

Read my post about how someone stole my identity! http://www.makingsenseofcents.com/2012/11/identitytheft.html