I look at one of the three reporting agencies at the first point of the year. The next one at the four-month point, the next at the eight-month point. I feel that way, if anything occurred I might see it in four months instead of at the start of a new year.
Make sure to check all three reports. The third one I checked at the eight-month point, showed a blemish that was not on the other two. It was an old CC debt, which I thought was long gone. It wasn't. I had moved to another state, and immediately got terribly sick, ending with disability. I didn't get any bills for the debt after the move, and over time, dealing with my health issues, I had forgotten it. The lender had made no effort to find me after the move, they just put the account in collections. I saw the item on the credit report, made inquiries, then made provisions to pay it off. Now I am truly "clean." So it pays to check all three credit reporting agencies.