Credit vs debit cards.

Money experts say debit card transactions are for everyday purchases: gas, a cup of coffee and recurring bills. Credit cards should be used for large, occasional expenses.

Particularly travel related activity: Airfare, hotels, rental cars and things like that. When the transaction is very large, it can put a hold on the funds in your checking account, and that could cause problems with paying your mortgage, utilities and things like that.

Credit cards also offer protections that don't come with a debit card, such as travel insurance, extended product warranties and the ability to dispute a charge.

Credit cards are far better for online transactions because you can challenge a transaction if the product was never delivered or was defective. Also, if someone gets your debit card number, they could drain your checking account balance, leaving you without money to pay your rent, mortgage or other critical bills.

Another question financial professionals frequently hear is how many credit cards should a person have. Svoboda says four should be average. And always keep the one you've had the longest.

You want to have backups. Networks go down, magnetic strips go bad on the back. No consumer wants to be stranded, so it's a good idea to have a couple - but never more than what you can actually keep track of.