To get finances in line, get rid of credit cards

I remember seeing a catwalk in my friend’s new house and being enthralled with the possibility of having something so interesting in a private home. It wasn’t the modern design that I loved so much as the creativity and uniqueness of structure.

My dad used to draw house plans in the winter and then build them in the summer months. But his houses were designed to be ultraefficient, with the ultimate use of materials and time. His approach was mathematical, incorporating even the standard dimensions for plywood and drywall in the lengths of his walls. I eventually built one of his (modified) designs, and it was indeed a lot of square footage for little cost. I added some false gables and a covered front porch to apologize for the efficient, rectangular box.

Though practicality outweighs my love of ornament when my own dollars are on the line, I love to tour the American palaces built by some of America’s uber-rich.

In the middle of the 19th century, Cornelius Vanderbilt, a boy from a mixed race family of modest means left school at 11 and began to follow his entrepreneurial inclinations. He became one of the wealthiest men in the world, and his son, William Henry Vanderbilt, doubled the family wealth.

Though Cornelius didn’t engage in mansion building, William Henry and his grandsons made up for that. While Cornelius donated a million dollars to start Vanderbilt University, his sons built palaces on 5th Avenue in New York Cityand an astonishing summer home he named “The Breakers” in Rhode Island and Biltmore in Ashville, North Carolina.

Built during the Gilded Age, Cornelius Vanderbilt II chose an Italian Renaissance style, building the house on a lot worth in today’s dollars about $12 million. The home is distinct in my mind for including both familyfriendly touches and overthe-top opulence.

The mansion that occupied the lot before The Breakers burned to the ground, so it is constructed of stone and as much fireproofing technology as existed before the turn of the 19th century was used in constructing the 70-room summer cottage. It overlooks the sea and is surrounded by magically landscaped gardens and a high wall with arched gates.

No Italian villa can top the views from The Breakers veranda, but the most distinct memory of touring that house-museum was the tale of how the children slid down the gilded staircase on mattresses, landing in the main floor ballroom. I used to do that as child, and my kids did it, too. Yet I don’t believe that those uber-wealthy children enjoyed that activity any more on that golden staircase than we did on my uber-efficient, carpet covered stairs. The difference is that we used nylon sleeping bags and only did For all you patriots who enjoy Americana, I have collected last year’s columns into a fun little volume. “Beth Stephenson’s Americana (volume 1)” is now available on Amazon. com and Kindle. Here’s the link for online readers: www.amazon.com/Americana-Everything-Great-AboutAmerica/dp/1543150535 it when adults were not present.

About the same time as The Breakers was under construction by William Henry, little brother George Washington Vanderbilt undertook construction of the largest privately owned home in the USA. The Biltmore in Ashville, North Carolina,is a vast estate covering more than eight square miles. The house itself has over 135,000 square feet of living space counting the basement swimming pool.

Rather than being a summer residence, Biltmore was designed to be entirely self-sufficient. GW Vanderbilt’s idea was to raise all the wine, beer and food other than seafood on the estate and to generate its own electricity. Though not exactly a modern day prepper, with the help of the mild climate and fertile soil in that area, he very nearly accomplished that feat.

Biltmore is geared to more sedate and adult activities and entertainments with dozens of sitting rooms and elaborately carved libraries. Acres of themed gardens are filled with common and exotic species. Vast greenhouses supplying the house with fresh flowers fruits and vegetables year round.

Though America must never have a king, we have watched the rise and fall of powerful families across the land. They leave a trail of fabulous architectural revels, house-museums, universities and lavish gardens. Most have been donated to theUnited States.

No, we don’t have a king, but in the USA, if you can dream it, you can build it.

Only in America. God bless it.

We’re trying to get control of our finances and my husband wants to close all our credit cards. I want to keep one and use the bill-pay option for monthly stuff like utilities, so we can keep earning rewards points. I look at my way as a method of just rerouting the money and paying it off each month. Am I wrong in looking at it like this?

Yes, you are. Life never goes as planned. You can have all the well-reasoned and best-intentioned ideas you want, but sooner or later something will go wrong.

Why not use a debit card that has a rewards system attached? Lots of debit card programs offer the same kinds of rewards programs that credit card companies do, with one big exception — you don’t have to go into debt.

Studies have shown that the vast majority of people never redeem their credit card airline miles. Other studies show that people spend more when using credit cards as opposed to cash. That extra money you spend on things you don’t need is money you could have been saving and investing. So, where’s the reward?

We were very late on one of our credit card bills and now it has been turned over to a collection agency. The collection company has offered us three or four different payment options. Does the original creditor accept the agreement, too, if we accept one of the collection agency’s options?

In most situations of this type, the collection agency owns the debt outright or they’re directly representing the original creditor. It’s pretty much standard operating procedure when someone has defaulted on a loan.

My advice would be to accept the deal they’ve offered that makes the most sense for you and your current financial situation. It’ll ding your credit report and show a settlement on the defaulted credit card, but that’s not the end of the world. There’s already a mark against you for it being turned over to collections.

If you want to keep things like this from happening in the future, you need to get control of your finances. Stop playing with credit cards!