Anyone who has recently applied for a mortgage knows that lenders are already looking much more closely at your financial affairs. But soon, they’ll be able to easily delve into the deepest recesses of your financial life, accessing information that never before appeared on your credit report.

The majority of credit scores don’t increase or decrease every month, largely because the person is in what is known as “steady state” or equilibrium where their patterns of credit use and payment are balanced over time.

You and I might revel in the crisp autumn weather, but your credit score hates this time of year. The reason? Starting in October and continuing through the next 90 days, many households dramatically increase their spending.

Any company, organization, or individual with a “legitimate business need” can request to see your credit history, and these requests are known as credit inquiries. They are divided into two categories called hard and soft inquiries — hard inquiries will affect your credit history and credit score while soft inquiries will not.

A FICO Score is a brand of credit score — FICO stands for Fair Isaac Corporation and Fair Isaac is the company that developed the software program used by the credit bureaus to compile and calculate credit scores for U.S. consumers.