Editorial Standards & Policy
How we create, review, and maintain our educational content. Scannable, dated, and revisable.
Our mission
UseYourCredit exists to provide clear, accurate, and actionable educational content about credit and personal finance. We believe understanding how credit works is a fundamental literacy skill - and that most people are underserved by overly complex or commercially biased content.
Educational content only
Important notice
All content on UseYourCredit is for educational and informational purposes only. We do not provide financial, legal, tax, or investment advice. Always consult a qualified professional for advice specific to your situation.
Sources we rely on
Every factual claim - interest rates, scoring weights, reporting timelines, regulatory rules - is traceable to one of the following source categories.
Government & regulator sources
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) - consumerfinance.gov
- Federal Trade Commission (FTC) - consumer.ftc.gov
- Federal Reserve consumer credit data (G.19, G.20)
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) consumer resources
- AnnualCreditReport.com - the only federally authorized free-report source
Scoring-model & bureau documentation
- FICO public documentation and score-factor breakdowns
- VantageScore Solutions methodology papers
- Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion consumer education centers
Industry & academic research
- Urban Institute, Pew Research, and Brookings consumer-finance studies
- Peer-reviewed journals (Journal of Consumer Affairs, Journal of Financial Economics)
- Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and Census income & debt data
Review cadence
Different content types decay at different rates. Each gets its own review schedule.
Pillar guides
Reviewed at least every 90 days
Complete fact-check, link audit, and rewrite of any section affected by rule, rate, or product changes.
Glossary entries
Reviewed quarterly
Definitions cross-checked against current CFPB and bureau wording. Examples updated for current dollar amounts.
Calculators & tools
Reviewed quarterly + on regulatory change
Formulas re-validated against FICO/VantageScore public documentation and current loan-disclosure standards.
Trends & Insights
Updated continuously
Time-sensitive content (rate environment, scoring-model rollouts, bureau policy) is dated and revised as news breaks.
Case studies
Reviewed annually
Numbers and outcomes verified against the year cited; older studies are clearly labeled as historical.
Corrections process
Mistakes happen. Here is exactly what occurs when you report one.
- 1Email ira@iDigits.com with the URL and the specific claim you believe is incorrect.
- 2We acknowledge every report within 2 business days.
- 3If the claim is verifiably wrong, we update the page within 5 business days and add a dated correction note at the bottom of the article.
- 4If the claim is debatable or context-dependent, we add clarifying language rather than removing the original framing silently.
- 5Material corrections to pillar guides also bump the dateModified in the page schema so search engines see the change.
Independence & disclosures
- We are not a lender, broker, credit bureau, credit-repair company, or financial advisor.
- The current site contains zero affiliate links and zero paid placements. If that ever changes, we will disclose it on the affected page and in this policy.
- No advertiser, sponsor, or partner has ever reviewed or approved content prior to publication.
- We do not accept payment for inclusion in guides, glossary entries, comparisons, or recommended-reading lists.