Years ago, owing the library a few dollars wasn’t a big deal. Today, with local budgets in a pinch, everyone is trying to find ways to make more money and fund valuable community services.

Late payments are the “biggest foul” when it comes to credit cards, warns Ben Woolsey, director of marketing and consumer research at CreditCards.com — the consequences can include late fees, jacked-up interest rates and a lower credit score.

You’ve been laid off from your job. The ensuing drop in your income could hurt your FICO score.

If you’ve been piggybacking on someones credit card as an authorized user for a while, you may wonder if you should bother to get your own credit card. It isn’t necessarily required, but it’s a good idea. Read on to find out what it means to be an authorized user and why you should apply for your own credit card when you can.

If you’ve ever tried to get your credit score for free, you know that there’s no such thing as a truly free credit score. You’re forced to enter your credit card information and sign up for a free trial of a service, just so you can forget to cancel and get charged for a service you don’t want. Though you can get a free credit report easily with no credit card, one popular website, Credit Karma, allows you to retrieve your credit score without providing any payment information.