This concept is hard to believe I know. As if posting a picture you didn’t intend your co-workers to see or accidentally updating something to completely offend half of your friends list wasn’t bad enough, soon your Facebook and Twitter may diminish your ability to obtain a loan and blemish your credit report.

The terms credit report and credit score seem synonymous, but really there is a difference between the two that as a consumer is important to know. To sum it up you can have a credit report without a credit score but not the other way around. If you’ve pulled your yearly free credit report at annualcreditreport.com (which you really should!) you’ll notice it’s missing a credit score. Let me break it down:

Your Credit report score has been affecting your Credit History for years and you may not even know you have one or what it is. A credit score is a numerical number that is determined from a mathematical formula based on the information found in your Credit bureau report.

The formula is complex and looks at many things in your credit report to determine your score, like, how old your credit is, how you have paid your credit in the past and what standings your debts are currently at, how many debts you have, the number and age of inquires, how you utilize your credit, as well as what your balances are in relation to your credit limits.

When you apply for a Credit Card or loan, the financial lender will automatically examine your Credit report. It will then formulate a credit score for you and either accept or decline your loan or credit card application based on that score. So what is a credit report and how do you find out what yours says?

Whenever you pay your bills or repay loans, the Credit bureau is essentially watching you. The credit you have on hand, the monthly debts you’ve accrued, and other miscellaneous financial information, is all collected by Credit Bureaus. Even your record for paying off your Sears credit card is on file! The bureaus sell this information to financial institutions, which use it to determine if you are a good candidate for a credit card or loan.