If you filled up at a gas station in the last several weeks, you've probably noticed the price of gas has been zooming up. That's because the price of oil per barrel is nearing a historic high. The most recent trade Clark saw was around $95. But adjusting for inflation, we've seen higher prices in the $101 and $102 range. Clark's economical Scion XB now costs him 9 cents/mile to gas up. One of his coworker friends was recently shocked that he couldn't fill up his huge modified TV station van for $50. Clark's friend thought the gas station was limiting how much gas he could pump, but really he was just getting such little gas for such a high price.

The good news is that gas and oil prices should decline in the future, barring any disasters either manmade or natural. A lot of the recent rises in price have been because of speculators. In fact, the price of a barrel of oil is up $25 over the last two months. Prices will drop once the speculators put their money elsewhere. But in the meantime, those who use home heating oil in the winter will really feel the pinch. The price of home heating oil is directly affected by the price of oil per barrel. So make sure you insulate and weatherize your home to avoid getting financially burned this winter. The average house using home heating oil is looking at $2,200 in winter heating expenses versus $900 dollars just two years ago.