Less than 60 percent of us heat our homes or get hot water from natural gas. Yet the price of natural gas still affects you whenever you turn on a light or your TV. That's because electric companies often use natural gas to fire up their plants. The cost of natural gas really skyrocketed about two years ago after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed the industry's infrastructure. The price tripled in a week and stayed exorbitant for a long time after that. Last year, the price settled down some. But this year, you're going to get really sweet deals on natural gas. There are new industry reports out that show the supply of natural gas sitting in pipelines is the largest it's been since 1994. So barring another natural (or manmade) disaster, the price this winter will be the best it's been for quite a long time.

On the topic of gasoline, why is it that we're paying less at the pump when the price per barrel is often way above $70?? Clark attributes this to the "crack spread," which has nothing to do with crack or cocaine. The crack spread refers to the shortage of space in refineries that process crude oil into gasoline. Previously there was limited storage in the refineries, so that drove the price of gas up. Now that the crack spread has lessened, we benefit at the pump.