Can you believe the gas prices we are seeing?
The national average has now dipped below $2 a gallon for the first time in more than 10 years, most recently down to $1.82 a gallon.
The average gas price in the Cincinnati area is even lower, down to $1.54, with some stations in Reading, Ohio down to $1.30 a gallon as of Monday morning.
Most Cincinnati-area Speedway stations range from $1.49 to $1.59.
And in parts of Michigan, pump prices have fallen below $1 a gallon, prices that we haven't seen since Bill Clinton was president in the 1990s.
An extra $800 a year?
It's all the result of plunging crude oil prices, which have fallen to $27 a barrel from a high of $100 a barrel just two years ago.
Also helping drive prices down is winter driving season, with demand for gasoline very low in January. January prices are usually the lowest of the year.
With a fill-up costing half of what it did in mid-2014, most drivers are saving around $20 a fill-up, or $800 a year over a couple of years ago.
If you drive a big SUV, you may be saving $1,000 annually right now.
The Downside of Cheap Gas
Who can argue against another $800 in your wallet?
Unfortunately, you may be losing a lot more money than that in your 401k retirement account, thanks to the same low oil prices, now blamed for much of the stock market's recent downturn.
ABC News has estimated that the average 401k account is down more than $7,000 since the market downturn began in the weeks before Christmas.
January has been a brutal month for stocks, with the Dow down more than 10 percent since 2016 began.
Of course, the market can turn around.
But CNN reports that low crude pricesare hammering stock markets around the world. Oil and energy companies axed 130,000 employees in the US last year, as a result of reduced drilling and other cutbacks.
And it says the bloodbath in the oil sector of the economy may get even worse in the coming weeks.
So while low oil prices are a great thing for consumers, shipping companies, and the airline industry, if it leads to a world stock and economic crisis those savings could be overshadowed in the months ahead.
As always, don't waste your money.
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