Clark Howard Show Notes, November 23, 2010

On The Show Today: Holiday Rental Cars, The Economy, Foreclosures, Black Friday, Ilyce’s Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe, FREE BOOKS

Is Your Holiday Rental Car Safe?

We started talking about how NHTSA is looking at car rental companies and investigating whether they’re leasing cars that have been recalled. Yesterday, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has opened an investigation into whether major car rental companies aren’t getting recalled cars fixed before leasing them to you. There are 3.3 million leased vehicles at risk, of all makes and types.

READ MORE:
Is Your Holiday Rental Car Safe?/1683/?tag=col1;blog-river

Have you ordered your FREE BOOKS yet?

The Economy Today

We did an economic update and talked about some positive news, but then the Federal Reserve announced that it is forecasting a worse than expected economy in 2011. The good news is that 3Q2010 GDP climbed to 2.5 percent. The bad news is that the GDP needs to be around 5 percent to start to generate enough jobs to make a dent in the 9.6 percent unemployment rate.

READ MORE:

US 3Q 2010 Growth Revised Up To 2.5 Percent

Corporate Profits Rise To All-Time Hights

Have you ordered your FREE BOOKS yet?

Black Friday Update

On her MoneyWatch.com post, my friend Kathy Kristof wrote about the Consumer Reports list of “naughty” (i.e. anti-consumer) and “nice” (i.e. pro-consumer) retailers with Black Friday and holiday deals.

Consumer Reports warns about buying TVs at Buy.com, or electronics at CompUSA and BestBuy. Take a look at Kathy’s store for more details.

READ MORE:

Black Friday Shoppers – Who’s Naughty and Who’s Nice

Have you ordered your FREE BOOKS yet?

Ilyce’s Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe and Sweet Potato/Apple Casserole

Every year, I get a lot of requests for my Thanksgiving Turkey Recipe. Here’s a link to my Turkey recipe. If you make it, let me know how it turns out!!

Red garnet yams
Granny Smith apples
Maple Syrup
Cinnamon
Tiny bit of vegetable oil (I like olive)
margarine or butter (if desired)

Peel yams and apples. Cut yams into 1/2″ thick rounds. Core apples and then slice about as thick as the yams.
Oil a baking dish. Alternate the yams and apples around the pan, one layer thick. (You can add a second layer if you like)

Drizzle with oil and maple syrup. (I do a little heavier on the maple syrup than the oil). Dot with margarine or butter (if desired). Sprinkle with Cinnamon.

Cover with tinfoil and bake 30-40 minutes, or until potatoes and apples are soft. Serve.

Enjoy!!!!

Give The Gift of Great Information This Holiday Season

Have you ordered your FREE BOOKS yet?

On the show today, I also talked about book deals and a GREAT gift-giving opportunity: Free books from ThinkGlink.com and Free Ebooks. See below for details.

Give the FREE Gift of Knowledge: [50 Simple Steps You Can Take To Disaster-Proof Your Finances(http://thinkglinkstore.com/paperback-books.html) and the REALLY Useful Guide to Working Smarter Not Harder.

The books are FREE (and retail for $15 each) – you pay the S&H. If you want to buy 10 books or more, send an email to sam@thinkglink.com and he’ll work with you on a shipping discount. The books retail for $15 and you get them for FREE. That’s the best deal going.

Warning: We’re on our last box of the Really Useful Guide to Working Smarter Not Harder, so order soon if you want one. Once they’re gone, they’re GONE!!!!

Check out our selection of Ebooks and Podcasts for Purchase!

We have terrific ebook packages on investing in real estate and managing your money. There are more than twenty ebooks and podcasts for sale on the site. Use the discount code freeebook for our buy-two-get-the-third-free deal. This time, you pay a little for great content, and nothing for shipping!

Today’s Callers

I suggested the following websites/organizations to today’s callers:

For Loan Modification Assistance: Credability.com which is the former Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Greater Atlanta (404-527-7630)

To File a Complaint Against a Big Box Lender: HelpWithMyBank.gov/complaints (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency – OCC – which regulates the big box lenders)

For Small Business Loans: SBA.gov Small Business Administration.
You might also try: Score.org for mentoring and possible business partners

Finally, we had great success getting Shannon a $600 refund from Charter Cable. Shannon overpaid it by accident and Team Clark was able to reach out to Charter Cable with great success! Congratulations Shannon. Thanks for calling the Clark Howard Show.

Don’t Miss Ilyce’s Show on Sunday Mornings, 11 to 1 on Newstalk WSB

I’ll be filling in for Clark the rest of this week, so tune in!

Check out Ilyce’s Blog on CBS MoneyWatch.com

Check out Ilyce’s Blog on the Equifax Personal Finance Blog