Well, I’m very embarrassed to say that I was late for my last comcast payment. It is one of the few bills that I have not put on auto payment. The usual thing happened where I did not get the monthly bill (or misplaced it) and ended up forgetting to pay it.

Well, an “urgent” mail came today from the Comcast billing department. This was what was written in the letter :

As of 4/25/07, our records indicate that your account has a past due balance of $126.12. Your last payment of $81.15 was received on 03/06. We understand that in the rush of our daily lives we sometimes overlook our bills (very polite to start).

Suspension - (getting a little nasty here). To avoid suspension of your service, payment of the past due balance is due by 5/07/07. If this payment is not received by this date, then your total balance of $222.39 must be paid by 5/11/07 or your service will be suspended. If your account is suspended, your cable channels and the internet will be blocked. Additionally, if you subscribe to Comcast Digital Voice, you will only be able to make 911 calls (what a consolation).

Termination of Service - Your account will be terminated soon after your suspension of service. If we do not receive your payment you will lose all television and Comcast High Speed Internet Services. If you have Comcast Digital Voice, you will lose all telephone service including 911.

……….If you wish to resume service with us after your account has been terminated, you will be required to pay the full amount due and will be subject to installation charges. You may be assigned a new Digital Voice number. (well, I guess if this happened, you should switch to Vonage instead!).

Well, I went into my online bank account and paid the bill (which was a genuine late payment). What bothered me was that Comcast (or even credit card companies) do not bother to tell you that you are late just after you missed payment (like a week after). Instead, they tell into after a month or so after stiffing you with a finance charge!

The language in this letter almost made it look as though you are better off with a credit card late payment than a Comcast late payment! At least with a credit card late payment, you are only charged finance charges and a late charge (possible interest rate increase). But you are normally given 60 days before any thing nasty (like reporting to credit bureaus) takes place. With comcast, you lose your cable TV! But thankfully, Verizon TV provides a viable alternative!

The first and considered by many to be the most exclusive prestige credit card is the American Express Centurion, reportedly for people who charge at least $250,000 a year. Available by invitation only, the card is so exclusive, it's hard to get reliable information about it!

What's clear is that Centurion is for wealthy people who travel frequently, shop at high end stores, and are used to receiving VIP treatment. Stories about the rich and famous who use Centurion abound. There are free companion airline tickets, free upgrades to first class, special deals with hotels, personal shoppers at stores like Saks and Gucci, travel planning and concierge services, as well as bonuses and rewards galore. Starting this May, there's going to be a $5,000 initiation fee … to be followed by annual fees of $2,500. (Curious to know what cardholders have to say? Click here.)

If by some chance you don't qualify for Centurion – and wouldn't want it even if you could – you're not alone! According to industry estimates, there are only about 10,000 Centurions out there.

Is There a Prestige Credit Card in Your Reach?

Both MasterCard and Visa have prestige credit cards that are marketed as Visa Signature Cards and World MasterCards. These cards have lots of enhanced benefits, geared to more typical cardholders – at no additional cost. Surprised? Don't be. Card issuers are in fierce competition, and they want business so badly, they are dangling bigger and better carrots in front of us.

Like Amex's Centurion, these cards offer tons of benefits for frequent flyers and spenders, including hotel discounts and upgrades, rebates on travel, extra travel insurance, points good for free flights with no blackout dates, VIP reservations at expensive restaurants, special discounts at stores and spas, early ticket purchasing for concerts and sporting events, flexible, generous rewards … and on and on.

Chances are, you already have a credit card issued by a lender that would be happy to give you Visa Signature or World MasterCard privileges – assuming your credit is good to excellent, you earn in the range of $125,000 a year, and you charge at least $2,000 a month. While the offers on individual cards change frequently, it's quite likely that you can find a card with an introductory rate of 0%, no annual fee or a low one (up to around $85), and as reasonable an interest rate as you'd get on cards without the extra benefits.

Surf over to these two sites and take a gander at the freebies you can get:

1. Visa Signature

2.World MasterCard

Warning: Don't let the lure of the extra benefits tempt you into charging more than you can afford. But if you do a lot of traveling for business, why not reap the enhanced rewards?

Do you have a prestige credit card? Please tell us about the benefits you have used!

Curtis Arnold, is the Founder of CardRatings.com, a website that provides ratings and reviews of over 20,000 credit card offers.

Alright, another week goes by and here are this weeks’ carnivals that I participated in and some highlighted post.

The 84th Carnival of Debt Reduction was hosted at Finance is Personal. The post that caught my eye was from Fire Finance. It was about Investing in Indexes and which one to choose. This is one of the rare articles I have seen that looks into this topic. It gives a good introduction but much more needs to be explored.

Meanwhile at Endless Gibberish, the 97th Carnival of Personal Finance was taking place. Wise Bread wrote about the 7 Deadly Sins of Consumerism, which I really enjoyed. I think you should definitely check out this post.

Golburu at The Art of Making Money hosted the 71st Festival of Frugality. The post that I really enjoyed was How to decorate your son’s room for under $60 fromTricia of Blogging Away Debt. It just goes to show you do not need to spend too much if you get creative. I’d only wished she had posted a below and after photo for us to see.

The Skilled Investor hosted the Carnival of Ethics, Values and Personal Finance. This is a carnival that I recently discovered and has a few interesting post. I also participated in the 4th Carnival of Debt Relief, the 9th Carnival of Debt Managment, and the 10th Carnival of Credit Cards.

Post of the Week

Finally, I have saved the best for last. This week’s post of the week comes from SVB from The Digerati Life. She wrote about the True cost of owning a car. This post is really well written with facts and figures and also a great photo - a real quality article. Be sure to check this out.

So that’s it for this week. Have a great week ahead.

While many people get into trouble with debt due to unforseen circumstances like a huge medical bill, others simply get into trouble because of spending discipline (or lack of). Credit cards have become such an essential thing in our lifes now that we (at least I do) use it for every thing we buy. However, the convenience we get from using a credit card also traps people into a spending binge and eventually a credit card debt spiral.

I recently got to know two friends who used to have problems with their credit card debt and this was what they suggest you do if you have problems with your spending habits (you obviously need to formulate a debt reduction plan - but you also need to change some habits)

1. Stop Using Your Credit Cards - Do not cancel your card as this will hurt your score (you also cannot cancel cards with a balance!). But rather, just cut them up and stop using them. Both told me that having to pay with cash really makes you think twice about parting with it. I personally don’t think I can stop using my credit cards. But if I did have a problem, then I’ll probably just use one!

2. Eat at Home - Yes, it not only saves money, but you will probably eat more health food as well. But eating at home will save at least half of your food expenses. This tends to be a problem for two busy working couples who are simply exhausted when they come back from work. One solution is to cook the food over the weekend and pack it in the freezer. Simply microwave it when you get back from home during the weekdays.

3. Stop going to the mall - For shopoholics, this might amount to cold turkey. But it is probably necessary cold turkey if you are constantly doing impluse shopping and piling up your credit card debt. Go to the park and run instead!

4. Use the library - Your local library probably has all the magazines that you want to read. Mine has DVDs too! I just recently borrowed the latest James Bond Casino Royale from the library and did not have to pay any fees.

5. Use quicken and check your bank balance every day - Let’s face it, the reason why most people have financial problems is because they do not treat their finances as a business. Businesses look at business reports every day. Train yourself to look at finances every day. Use a software like Quicken or Microsoft Money. Once you get into the habit to looking at your finances every day or once a week, you will treat your expenses in a different light.

Well, these were the main things I got out of my two new friends. I thought they made sense and these were things they actually did (not some theory on how you should you do it). You may realize that if you implement these steps and take their advice, it essentially involves a change in lifestyle. But that is what you probably need if your spending is out of control.

Share you thoughts and other ideas below.

When the Home Depot was closing down to make way for a Walmart in King of Prussia, they started having sale to get rid of inventory. It started off with 10% to 30% off and 2 weeks later - it’s now 20 to 40% off.

During the first week of the sale. I would drive by and remind myself to do a list before I go in. My lists included a window screen, several light bulbs, mulch, air filters, carbon dioxide detectors, rugs, garden hose, flash lights & a toilet seat. (Yes, mine needed to be replaced !)

I persuaded my neighbor - who is a contractor to come along. He has the Chase Home Improvement Rewards^SM Card which he used for my purchases as he would earn 3 rewards for every dollar he spent at Home Improvement Stores. Needless to say, he also loaded up.

When we finally went last Friday, we saw so many guys with big trucks loading up their merchandise. Somehow I was getting excited and thought maybe I’ll get a good bargain for a grill. (Although it’s not on my list) It’s so hard to focus when you know everything is discounted. You want to buy almost everything because you tell yourself that you’ll need it someday. So, I walked around for 2 and a half hours and only succeeded in getting light bulbs, mulch, garden hose, a rug, 3 flash lights and yes, my beloved toilet seat. No, the grill is still out of reach - maybe it would be further reduced in another week of two. It’s such a big place and if you are not a frequent shopper in Home Depot, you spent half the time searching for the right ailse. Frankly, it’s not my favorite shopping destination.

As much as we made some savings with purchases that we eventually needed to make, going to close out sales can tempt you to buy more than you planned, and often on unnecessary stuff. If I had done it again, I would have wrote down a list of things I needed to buy rather than walk around for two hours looking at every discount!

Money doesn't have to be boring! Each week, CreditBloggers.com takes a look at the lighter side of the personal finance world in a series called Funny Money Friday.

We're excited to welcome a new blogger to our team on Monday! Curtis Arnold is the founder of U.S. Citizens for Fair Credit Card Terms and CardRatings.com. He'll be giving you the inside scoop on everything happening in the credit card industry. If you have a question for Curtis to answer on CreditBloggers, email it to tidbits@credit.com.

In honor of our new credit card guru, this week's Funny Money Friday post is all about credit card terms. Click on the image below to see and print our Credit Card Word Search:

As always, you can send your completed puzzle to us by email (or mail/fax, email us for instructions). Each complete and correct entry we receive will win a free copy of John Ulzheimer's book, Credit Reporting & Credit Scoring. Happy Friday!

Orange County, CA is my home and it is also the home of a significant number of the sub-prime lenders that are closing down or have quit altogether.  The most visible one is New Century, up until recently the industry's largest. It has filed for bankruptcy protection.

New Century's latest problems were caused by the forced re-purchase of hundreds of millions of dollars of defaulted loans where borrowers did not make any payments.  When it happens with a lot of loans, you'd have to suspect wide-spread collusion between the borrowers and employees at the company. How far up the ladder did that go?  Well, there are investigations into insider-trading that reach into the highest levels of the company, so you would have to wonder.

In the meantime, the company is trying to sell the loans they had to buy back, the ones that are in default. The company is also trying to find a buyer for the organization itself. That might be a hard sell because of all those lousy loan officers who knowingly did bad loans just so they could make a commission.

The latest news is simply outrageous.  As reported in The Los Angeles Times, the company attorney appeared before the Bankruptcy Court and asked that $6 million be set aside for paying bonuses for 131 "key" employees who they felt necessary to retain so as to make the company more saleable. $3.4 million of that was to go to seven of the highest paid executives. In the words of the company, "The debtors require the means to motivate leadership and to address steeply declining morale of its employees."

I must not know much about morale but I also haven't watched my stockholdings of $100,000,000 evaporate to zero like mist under the morning sun as did each of the major executives of the company. That would tend to be a little depressing, so perhaps it is necessary to give them $500,000 pocket money to get them to come to work every day.

As I write this something like 10,000 unemployed mortgage folks are currently walking around Orange County. So it's not like ANY of those 131 people can go out and find a new job. No one is hiring. They may suffer from poor morale but they will stay as long as you pay them ANYTHING!

So what is everyone going to do without these bonuses? Quit? I don't think so.

I had already anticipated that the vultures were circling to see what they could find to feed off of as this empire collapsed. I didn't think that would include the guys who oversaw creating the mess in the first place.  I hope that the Bankruptcy Court refuses to approve the payments. 

I criticized co-branded credit cards on a previous post for failing to negotiate better terms for their members/customers. My complaint is that the sponsoring organizations don't seem to care how badly these cards reflect on their brand. If you read the comments on that post, you'll see that some agreed with me, and others basically said "caveat emptor, it's all about making money."

What I neglected to point out was a "good guy" example that has defied the traditional model: the Union Plus Credit Card which is available to some 13 million union members. Union Privilege, the group that provides benefits to union members through unions across the country, has worked long and hard with the issuer (first Household Bank and now HSBC Bank) to negotiate and maintain a card with strong protections for cardholders. They also offer a secured card and rewards card.

Here's how the Union Plus credit card stacks up against the competition:

Punitive Rates
Other Cards

• Increase interest rates if cardholder pays late or for numerous other reasons.
• The average default rate is 25%; many issuers charge 32% or more.

Union Plus

• No increases above the members' standard APR, which is capped at 19.99%
• Promotional rates may rise to the member's standard APR, but only if they are 30 days late on the Union Plus card. That's almost unheard of in the industry.

Universal Default
Other Cards

• Most cards charge "universal default" interest rates based on alleged missteps with another issuers but involving no missed payments to the credit card company itself. This includes other credit card bills, mortgages, auto loans…even utility bills. Even a change in your credit report such as refinancing your mortgage can trigger a higher rate.

Union Plus

• No universal default

Grace Period
Other cards

• Grace periods have been getting shorter -- typically 20 days for many major cards.

Union Plus

• 25 days.

Raise Rates Any Time for Any Reason
Other Cards

• Credit card company contracts currently claim the right to change terms for any reason, including what often seems like no good reason at all!

Union Plus

• Terms can change only if Union Privilege agrees.

Mandatory Arbitration
Other Cards

• Force consumer to waive his or her right to a court trial as a condition of using a credit card. These mandatory arbitration clauses have been criticized as biased in favor of the issuers, and Class Action lawsuits are not allowed.

Union Plus

• No mandatory arbitration clause

Protecting Members
Other Cards

• No special protections for members facing financial hardship. If you want any kind of protection, you’ll have to purchase expensive disability or unemployment “insurance” type coverage.

Union Plus

• Special protections for members facing financial hardship, including:
• Lifeline Trust provides grants to cardholders who experience a significant loss of household income due to a long-term illness or prolonged disability ($100,000 in grants distributed)
• Free consumer credit counseling program with Money Management International which offers free budget analysis
• Disaster Relief Fund provides grants to members affected by a natural disaster ($400,000 provided to cardholders impacted by Hurricane Katrina)
• Layoff helpline assists members who have been laid off with reduced rates or fixed payment plans
• Skip payments (up to 4 per year) assist members on strike or facing other economic crises
• Full-time member advocate that works for Union Privilege to help members with concerns that are not addressed by the bank
• Union Privilege looks out for union consumers every day. Negotiates a contract with bank and oversees and monitors program.

Lest this sound like a commercial for the card, I want to point out that card programs like Union Plus should be the standard, not the exception. Organizations with large membership or customer bases should be similarly fighting for a good deal for consumers who carry cards with the sponsor's name on them. Yes, card programs must be profitable (and this one is) but at a time when long-term loyal cardholders are hard to come by, sponsors and issuers should be looking at ways to build loyalty through strong member benefits -- and by treating the customer well.