You see them all over the Internet; those enticing little links challenging you to test your brainpower with an IQ test. While entertaining for sure, you don’t really learn anything more than how well you take an IQ test — and possibly that your teenage cousin is way smarter than you. Ouch. Personally, if I put the time in, I want something more applicable to the real world out of it. Take for example the FreeScoreQuiz.com site, brought to you by Freescore.com. There, I tested my knowledge of the credit-scoring world and actually learned something about what makes it tick — which in this credit-crunched economy is more important than ever.

Funny little Filbert the Squirrel of FreeScore fame happily guided me through a series of questions designed to test and educate me about the ins and outs of the credit community. A little understanding of what are and are not positive credit practices goes a long way to helping me improve my score.

We all know (or some of us do anyway) that a poor credit score and battered credit history can raise your interest rates, cost you a mortgage and even stop a home purchase dead in its tracks. But FreeScoreQuiz.com — and of course, Filbert the Squirrel — revealed just how far into other areas of life a low credit score and less than stellar credit history can reach.

I got a little tripped up on a question asking who exactly has access to my credit report — apparently employers, landlords, and even insurance companies do. Who knew a few late credit card payments could hurt my chances at landing a job or getting a new apartment? Well, apparently Filbert the Squirrel did. And now so do I.

Even if you think you know it all, it’s always good to take a second look. Who knows you might learn something new? I know I did. And when I forward FreeScoreQuiz.com to my bratty… I mean brilliant cousin, hopefully she will too. And with any luck she won’t make those college-age credit mistakes that could kill her credit score years before she even enters the real world.