Sometimes, particularly if you recently filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy or are gearing up for a major purchase, you may want to keep a closer eye on your credit report.

Monitoring your credit report may be an effective way to ensure that resolved debts aren’t affecting you anymore, keep an eye out for identity fraud, and track your financial recovery.

However, as Quizzle.com points out, there may be times in your life when freezing your credit report makes sense. But before you put your report on ice, there are a few things you should know about the process and the costs associated with it.

First, freezing your credit report, also known as a security freeze, does what you might think: It puts your report on ice from the major credit reporting agencies, and prevents anyone – including you – from gaining access to the report.

Why freeze your report? If you had a serious instance of data breach or identity theft, a temporary freeze may make it more difficult for someone to maliciously take advantage of your credit report. In some cases, a security freeze may even make it more difficult for a would-be identity thief to access your information.

This security comes with two costs.

There is a monetary cost for this service. For a freeze to work, you’ll need it performed at the three main credit monitoring agencies. Each agency charges a separate fee for the service, typically around $10.

Once this freeze is on, not only will outside groups – like credit card companies or banks – be blocked from accessing your report, but you will too. This means that you might run into problems if you try to get a new credit card or loan.

If your report is locked up and you want to “temporarily” lift the freeze to complete an action – check your score, take out a loan – you may, but you’ll have to pay fee.

Likewise, if you want to permanently stop the freeze, you will also need to pay a fee.

With all the costs involved, be careful before agreeing to a security free unless you are sure you want to block access to your credit report. This may not be a good choice for you if you are still closely monitoring your report and your score, or are still climbing out of credit debt.