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Money-Guy 08-07-2008

Today's show is a grab-bag of goodies. If you keep up with pop-culture, you've probably come across the show Extreme Makeover Home Edition. If you're not familiar with this show, they select a family in need and makeover their home. One family they selected actually lived about fifteen minutes away from me, so when I read this story it really hit close to home (no pun intended).

As described in the July Atlanta Journal the largest home ever built on this show, which my wife can vouch for because she actually attended two of the construction days, is now in foreclosure. I find this so sad! This family fell victim to the same poor financial decision making that is one of the reasons for the current state of our economy. They were given a house worth anywhere from $550,000 - $650,000. They were even given enough cash to pay the taxes on the home for something like 20 years.

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Thanks and a huge shout-out to everyone who helped drive record numbers on the Money Guy website in July 2008.

If you've told a friend about me, subscribed to our free email update list, added a kind comment on iTunes, or linked to an article on your personal website, thank you! As one of the few successful independent personal finance podcasters, I appreciate your support.

Money Guy's July 2008 top friends:

• Five Cent Nickel
• Moolanomy
• Get Rich Slowly

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Money-Guy 07-30-2008

The mutual fund universe is larger than ever and there are no signs of it slowing down. With more funds, more information, and easier access to this information, how can you go about selecting solid funds that are going to assist you in achieving your life goals?

With help from InvestorWords and BusinessDictionary, let's begin with a quick recap of some key mutual fund terms:

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Money-Guy 07-23-2008

We have a special treat for you on this installment of the Money Guy Show! I usually don't have guests on the show, but today we're fortunate to be joined by Liz Weston. As many of you will attest, Liz is an award-winning, nationally syndicated personal finance columnist with a unique gift for simplifying complex money topics. According to Nielsen/NetRatings, she's the most-read personal finance columnist on the Internet.

Along with a regular MSN column, Liz has authored three best-selling books: "Easy Money: How to Simplify Your Finances and Get What You Want Out of Life", "Your Credit Score: How to Fix, Improve and Protect the 3-Digit Number that Shapes Your Financial Future", and "Deal with Your Debt: The Right Way to Manage Your Bills and Pay Off What You Owe". She's also written for the Los Angeles Times, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Palm Beach Post, the Portland Oregonian, the Newark Star-Ledger, Stars & Stripes, and appeared on NPR's "Talk of the Nation", "All Things Considered", and NBC's "Today Show".

On today's show, I talk with Liz about some of the personal finance concerns facing families today. These issues include debt management, credit cards, emergency savings, freeing up extra cash, and boosting your credit score.

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