It may seem like a long time ago when you were last sitting in your high school economy class ... hoping against hope the teacher wouldn't call on you to discuss recent trends of the Gross Domestic Product.

Chances are that regardless of when you last sat in that class, and you well may be wishing you had paid more attention; the U.S. economy has changed significantly within the last year, and words like "recession" and "mortgage crisis" and "economic slump" are now fully ensconced in our our day-to-day consciousness.

Even if you still don't fully understand the total implications of a recession, no doubt you have at least been affected by rising gas prices, which is a contributing factor.

Over the next few weeks, we will continue to discuss the U.S. economy and how it affects you, and what you can do to survive the wild ride.