The credit bureaus are more than happy to charge you for your credit score, but you don’t need to pay if you know where to look. There are two major online companies right now which offer consumers a free credit score based on the information found in their credit reports. To be clear, these are not the FICO credit score, which is the industry standard. But the scores are based on the same data and should be a good representation of your FICO score.

The minimum credit score needed for approval varies by store credit card, but it’s not the only criteria used. For example, someone with a low credit score simply because they are new to credit will probably be looked upon more favorably than someone with a low score due to late payments or a charge off.

Citigroup, the fourth-largest credit-card lender by purchase volume in the U.S., is partnering with Fair Isaac Co., the provider of the credit score most widely used by lenders, to provide its customers with their FICO Score beginning in January.

If you haven’t started playing the FICO game yet, here are 10 little-known credit cheats that will help you get to the next credit level. There’s one score that follows you around for life — your credit score!

When an individual gets into a serious accident or incurs a large sum of medical bills from an illness, it can be hard to repay the debts before the hospital turns the debts over to a collection agency. Once the debts are at a collection agency, they are placed as line items on that individual’s credit report.