Savings Calculator

If you're not changing the term of your loan ... even dropping your rate by an eighth makes sense because you did not have to change anything to get a loan," says Bob Walters, chief economist for Quicken Loans. "It always pays to get a lower rate."

Say the current balance of your 6.5%, 30-year fixed mortgage is $250,000 and you are making monthly payments of $1,580. If you refinance into a loan of the same size that's one percentage point lower, 5.5%, you've dropped your monthly payments by about $160 to $1,420. But let's say you want to take out extra cash to pay off $20,000 in credit card debt: You'll need a new loan of $270,000. And even with that higher amount, your monthly payments are still reduced about $50 from your current payments to $1,533 a month.

To determine how your monthly mortgage payments will differ under a new loan, use a mortgage-refinance calculator to determine the savings you might receive.

Are we heading for a recession during 2008?

The UK, I feel, will weather the storm, and the housing market will unravel as time goes on, with maybe a 15 per cent decline, in a worst-case scenario. The credit crunch will obviously affect consumers, but not industry, as the government will allow the easing of supply of money to keep the economy `warm'. I also think we will see takeovers in the mid to latter end of the year, as stronger companies take over the competition in their respective sectors. All in all, I am not expecting a seventies-style recession. Famous last words . . . ! The next 12-18 months are going to be somewhat hard and uncertain, however the underlying economy is reasonably sound and resilient. The US dancing with possible recession is not as dangerous as it was say 10 years ago with the emergence now of the very strong economies in the Far East.

Recession watch: Economic downturn sends people back to school (3 p.m ...

LAS CRUCES — Luis Garcia calls it a "recession-proof" industry.

He's talking about the trucking school where he's the president — Mesilla Valley Training Institute, which like every trucking school is always looking for students.

"It's one of the biggest sells, that even though there may be a recession, people still need to eat, they need medical supplies and that needs to be moved by trucks," Garcia said.

When he talks "recession-proof," Garcia might as well be talking about education in general. When the economy looks dicey, New Mexico State University prepares for a bump in graduate students looking to boost their résumés. Doña Ana Community College expands its licensure programs. Education becomes a hot commodity, and understandably so — 26 percent of county residents lack a high school diploma, 24 percent have that and only that, 6 percent have an associate's degree and 15 percent have bachelor's degrees.