I have a personal fetish about Goldens with fluffy slippers on their feet so I'll attempt to help. I'm not a professional groomer but I really enjoy grooming (if it weren't for my allergies I would take a grooming course) and have tried to watch as many of the pro handlers groom and have friends that are groomers by profession.
First I take a small shear (about 4" long) that has rounded saftey points and trim all the fur from the bottom of the foot. You want to get all the stuff that grows out and around the pads. Be careful so you don't cut the pads, but trim all this fluff even with the pads. You need to get the fur between the pads and also the outside edges of the foot. Next I brush down any of the fluffies that stick up on the foot, repeat the procedure above and even very carefully trim in between the pads. This is why I use the small shears, for this operation. I find that I can get this stuff out from between the pads much easier with a small shear then a larger one. I actually go in between the pads and trim out the fur so that you are eliminating some of the wads of fur that grow between the pads. This helps to give a much neater and tighter appearance to the foot. Next I take a small slicker brush and brush all the fur on the foot in an upward direction. The fur should stick out sort of like a crew cut, this is where you need a good thinning shear. Take your thinning shear and keeping it vertical to the nail of the foot (end of the shear should be at the end of the nail) trim around the foot moving the shear from outside edge to inside edge or vice versa. It's important to keep the shear in a somewhat vertical position otherwise you can get a choppy look. Once thats done if you still have fluffies that remain (usually I may have only a little fluff from between the pads) I carefully take my thinning shears and trim this with the end of the shear pointed toward the head of the dog. You want to lay the shear on the paw to get this fluff and I find it's easier to do this with the dogs foot in my hand. Then I brush all the fur down and see what remains, repeat this last step if needed. This should give you a fairly nice foot for your Golden. If you really want to get anal about it or if you groom for the show ring. You next get out the straight shears with the pointed ends and VERY, VERY, VERY carefully trim out the tiny ends that may stick out around the nails or between the pads. This is just a finishing touch and I don't usually do this unless my guys are going in the show ring.
The fur that grows down in the back of the foot should be trimmed even with the pad of the foot when the dog is standing. If there is a lot of fur in this spot you can take a thinning shear and again with the thinner edge down take a couple of clips to eliminate some of the fur.
On the subject of shears I've found that you don't need the top of the line shear unless you are a pro. However the cheapies don't work nearly as well and need sharpening more often. Thinning shears need to have 46 teeth, anything less gives a choppy look. You will use thinners on feet, ears and tails so the best pair you can afford is a good investment. I paid about $35.00 for my first pair, last year I got a pair of 44-20 Taper-Fine that were $67.00 and Santa brought me a set of Geib (not mass produced, hand done, etc.) thinners that were mega bucks. I like the 44-20's as well as the Geib's. The only difference between them is the blade movement. On the more expensive shears, the blades move with less hand movement. That's only important if you are doing a lot of grooming or have tendon problems or arthritis. The cut from the 44-20's is better then the $35.00 pair and about the same as the Geib's. For your pet Golden I'd go with a pair around $35.00. I think you can apply this to the purchase of other shears.