While most people know what a credit score is, people also commonly misunderstand how it's put together. In a recent survey from the credit repair firm Lexington Law, for example, half of the respondents said they believe using your debit card affects your score — it doesn't.

"Debit cards are a tool used to complete a cash transaction. They do not appear in credit reports and so do not affect credit scores at all," Rod Griffin, director of consumer education and awareness at Experian, tells CNBC Make It.