Reader Mark B. writes: In a recent article you wrote about checking your credit report with the three agencies, three times a year. What three credit reports? How do I get there? Is there a fee?

Sometimes I take for granted certain things that some of us have known for years. But it's never too late to start checking your credit report: And if you're old enough to have a credit card, you need to get started with monitoring your credit if you haven't done so already.

For starters, even a cursory look online will reveal dozens of websites who will offer to give you your credit report and "monitor your credit" for fees of $10 to $30 a month or more. Ignore all of this. You are entitled, by law, to one free credit report from each of the three credit reporting agencies each year, and while you won't get any bells & whistles (like your credit "score"), you'll get what you need to ensure your identity isn't being compromised and that someone else's debts aren't landing in your lap.

The place -- and the only place -- to get your free credit reports is here: AnnualCreditReport.com. Don't get suckered by the other sites, many of which look very similar to the correct one.

Once you visit the site, getting your reports isn't hard. Select your state, then click Request Report. You'll be asked for a range of personal information, so have handy your Social Security Number, previous address, and financial information like the amount of your monthly mortgage or car loan payments. You may also need your driver's license number.

After your ID is verified, you'll be asked which agency or agencies you want to get your report from. Here's where it's a good idea to take a slight detour: Rather than get reports from all three agencies -- TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax -- all at once, just get one. Doesn't matter which. 

Why? Because you only get one free report from each agency each year. If you get all three today, you'll have to wait 12 months to check your credit again. Because credit reports tend to show the exact same information (mistakes on one often show up on another), you don't need to get all three reports on the same day. Instead you can check one report every four months, which means you'll catch any mistakes or fraud much, much faster, putting yourself at far less risk of identity theft. (Note that this isn't my original idea; a reader -- I've forgotten who -- turned me on to this idea years ago, and it's been working great for me.)

It can be hard to remember which report you've checked and when, so I schedule it all in my Outlook calendar: Set up a yearly reminder for one agency, then do the same for the second agency beginning four months from now and the third agency beginning eight months from now. Then all you have to do is jump back to AnnualCreditReport.com when the reminder pops up.

Oh, and if you find mistakes on the report, follow the instructions provided by that particular company to file to have it corrected. Most make this a pretty easy process once you get a live person on the phone.