If you do use a credit card, consider one of many types of “Reward Cards” that are available now. Some companies offer from 1% to 3% cash back rewards on purchases, which is a good choice for putting some money back in your pocket rather than spending it on interest for carried balances.

A tip: In our house, we use one card for our monthly expenditures and pay the bill in full when the bill arrives. In addition we have a separate card with a lower credit limit that we use for online purchases only. This is a smart safety precaution: Should this card number become compromised (and it has) we still have our other card to continue to operate with until replacements cards arrive.