You Burned $4,155 In 2011

By the time you head out the door for your New Years Eve festivities, you will have spent over $4,100 on gas in 2011.

Remember spending $3.50 to almost $4.00 for a gallon of gas this past summer (and winter and spring and fall)? It really adds up. The average American family spent $4,155 on gas this year -- that's over 8% of what the average person made in 2011.

While you can now find gas for just under $3.00/gallon in some parts of South Jersey, it will average out to about $3.53/gallon this year, which is 76 cents higher than 2010.

And since I'm being all Debbie-downer here, get used to not saying "cheap" and "gas" in the same sentence. Experts are already predicting gas up to $4/gallon by spring as prices at the pump now aren't really giving us a break.