Dear Helaine: I'm in my late 20s with a good but short credit history. For the past three years, I've been aggressively paying down my student loan, and I expect to have it fully paid off by early next year. I also have one credit card through my credit union, which I use sparingly and pay off every month. I've only had this credit card for a year.

Since my student loan will no longer be on my credit report, I'd like to make sure I still have a strong credit score, and I am thinking a second credit card (preferably with airline miles) would be a good option. I know that closing my student loan could impact my credit a bit, and then opening the new account could do the same. What do you think? -- Future Score

Dear Future Score: Letters like yours are one of the things that make me want to scream -- and show the limits of the credit scoring system as it exists now. In any rational world, paying off your student loan would count as a positive. But in the crazy, mixed-up world of credit scores, it could be a negative, at least in the short run. That's because your average length of time of open credit will go down, says Anthony Davenport, the author of "Your Score: An Insider's Secrets to Understanding, Controlling and Protecting Your Credit Score."

What would I suggest? Since you have a relatively short and light credit history, a second card could help you out a bit over the long haul -- provided, that is, it's used in a way similar to what you are doing now.

The issue involves credit utilization. That's judged on a card-by-card basis. How does that work exactly? As Davenport puts it, pretend for a moment that you have a credit card with a limit of $5,000 and one with a limit of $10,000. If you put $1,000 on each card, your score is hurt more because of the $5,000 limit card.

One last note: Obviously, running up bills you can't pay is a negative, but it sounds like your habits are good, and you won't be doing that. And congrats on (almost) getting that student loan out of your life!

(To ask Helaine a question, email her at askhelaine@gmail.com.)

(EDITORS: For editorial questions, please contact Sue Roush at sroush@amuniversal.com)

Dear Helaine: My husband and I are expecting our first child in November. Currently, our only debt includes his vehicle loan, our mortgage and his student loans. We both have healthy salaries and currently live comfortably while making our monthly payments.

My question is, when it comes to extra money we receive from bonuses, tax refunds, family and the like, should we put that money into savings or toward paying down our debt? Obviously, the liquidity of savings is nice, especially with a baby. I am estimating that with child care and making payments on the debt, there won't be much left over. And debt makes me CRAZY. Hence, no credit card debt for either of us.

Is the amount of debt we have "healthy," or should I be concerned and working to pay off these debts ASAP? -- Tired of Monthly Payments

Dear Tired of Monthly Payments: First, congratulations on the baby! She or he is going to change your life. A lot. Mostly for the better -- unless you count your personal finances, that is.

That number the federal government puts out, the one saying it costs more than $200,000 to raise a child in a middle-class family to the age of 18, is not a joke. Child care is just the start of the expenses. There are clothes and equipment to buy, and medical bills to pay, and birthday gifts to buy for all the parties your child will be invited to and so on. Moreover, that six-figure sum doesn't even include college.

My suggestion: Don't make any radical readjustments to your finances yet. See how you manage your money when you are out on maternity leave, and then when you return to work and need to pay for child care. I would hate to see you pay down some of these bills only to run up credit card debt.

As for whether you should tackle the debt if it turns out your finances are just fine with the new addition, if you have three months' emergency savings for a family of three set aside, and you and your husband are investing adequate money in your retirement accounts -- I mean at least 10% of each of your own gross incomes -- then yes, you can tackle this debt. I'd start with the highest-interest loan first and work your way down from there. Good luck!

(To ask Helaine a question, email her at askhelaine@gmail.com.)

(EDITORS: For editorial questions, please contact Sue Roush at sroush@amuniversal.com)

Dear Helaine: A friend needed a dress for a formal event, and she borrowed one from me. She returned it with stains. She didn't tell me they were there. I found them myself. The dry cleaner couldn't remove them.

When I asked her about it, she apologized and said she wouldn't pay for the dry cleaning or buy me a new formal outfit because she "didn't need another dress." But it's my dress, not her dress, and she's the one who ruined it. I thought the answer was obvious. When you borrow an item from a friend and damage it, you buy them a new one. I told her so, and now she won't speak to me.

Did I get the etiquette wrong and lose a friend for no good reason? Or was she not such a good friend? -- Staining Mad

Dear Staining Mad: Accidents do happen. But if I borrow something from a friend or neighbor, and I damage, break or ruin it, it's on me to make the offer to replace it. There are all sorts of ways to do that.

In the matter of the dress, your friend should have been up-front about what happened. She then should have offered to pay for the dry cleaning and, if that didn't fix the situation, she needed to make good in some way. It's hard to buy someone another dress, but she could have offered to take you out to dinner or purchase a gift certificate to one of your favorite stores. That she didn't do this tells me this is a relationship where you did much of the giving and she the taking. (I mean, she didn't need another dress. Come. On.) If I'm right, the lost dress is a cheap price to pay for learning this about your now-former friend.

I would add one caveat, however. Did your friend borrow the outfit because she couldn't afford to buy one herself? She might have been embarrassed to admit she couldn't afford to pay you back in some way. The next time something like this happens, it might be better if you make it clear you'll be understanding if your friend's finances don't permit her to address the situation quickly.

One other thing: It's good to be generous with possessions. But if it's something you really want returned in the same shape as you lent it out, specify that up front. Or don't lend it out at all.

(To ask Helaine a question, email her at askhelaine@gmail.com.)

(EDITORS: For editorial questions, please contact Sue Roush at sroush@amuniversal.com)