As most answers in the government: it depends.
Cash is by far the way I do things 95% of the time; however, once in a while a trade has worked itself out pretty well.
I have used my credit card two times. First time was to pay it off right away for rewards. The other was knowing a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure was about to seriously wreck my credit, so I charged a game on my CC to begin paying it off to help rebuild my credit. $212 due a month - and I pay $500 easily. Been doing it for almost a year now to show consistent, on-time payments. About to just pay $1000 a month and wipe it out.
So, in conclusion: it depends.