It's not often you see a headline on the foreign news section and actively worry about how it's going to affect you. Yet, when you look at the spread of the democracy movement in North Africa and the Middle East, there's real cause for concern. With the continuing fighting in Libya, oil supplies have been disrupted. Although the Saudis say they will always be able to make up the shortfall, there's increasing doubt they can. Perhaps in years gone by, they really could turn a spigot and more crude would come out of the ground. Now, experts are saying we're at "peak oil", i.e. we're producing the maximum amount possible and, from now on, we're just going to have less. That's why the price of gas at the pumps has been rising steadily over the last few weeks of February and shading into March. There are pessimists around saying we'll be back up to $4 a gallon come the fall. The last time the price got that high, we all drove less and started to buy vehicles that would do more miles to the gallon. The same thing will probably happen this time around. But there's another game just coming into town you might want to have a look at.

No matter what your view of the environmental movement and all this talk of climate change, there's one fact no one can dispute. Right now, we still feel like we're in a recession. Officially, unemployment is still around a national average of 9.5%. The real figure is probably around 16%. People are being put on short time and, in Wisconsin and other states where Republican Governors like Scott Walker and newly-elected lawmakers think they have a mandate from the voters to cut their deficits, layoffs are still to come. So everyone's in the game of finding savings in their household budgets. As insurance premiums rise, we all need to find ways of keeping them affordable.

Around the country, pay-as-you-drive can offer big savings if you genuinely drive low mileages every month. An increasing number of insurers are offering premium rates based on how many miles you drive and the time of day. If you are a senior or homemaker who only drives a few miles a week at off-peak times, this is definitely for you. Some of the large insurers claim people can save up to 50% on their current car insurance rates. This is all becoming more real because the technology is being rolled out to allow the insurers to monitor your vehicle remotely. Some vehicles have this installed by the manufacturer. For other vehicles, the insurers have black boxes for you to plug in. If you're prepared to accept a small invasion of your privacy to prove low mileage, the rewards will be real. If you prefer human monitoring, insurers offer a smaller discount if you bring your vehicle to an authorized person to check the odometer once a month. The idea is to eliminate the cheats who claim low mileage and hope no one checks. If this sounds a good deal to you, check out the quotes for pay-as-you-drive. This may bring cheap car insurance back to your home.