Where costs will rise (or fall) in 2007
Raises will average 3.7 percent, but there will be a lot of competition for those dollars given the price increases forecast for many basic expenses in 2007. But there are some areas where you'll likely pay less. By Jeanne Sahadi, CNNMoney.com senior writer
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Heating & Gas
Your heating oil and electric heating bill are expected to rise this winter. But the cost of filling your tank and heating your house with natural gas is projected to fall.
Heating & Gas
UPOil prices hit all-time highs in July and have fallen more than 25 percent since, trading around $60 a barrel in recent weeks.

That's reasonably good news for drivers and homeowners heating their houses since their costs aren't estimated to soar in 2007. And in some cases, they're expected to fall from 2006 levels.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) is forecasting that gasoline will average $2.48 a gallon in 2007, down 3.4 percent from 2006.

In terms of heating, the EIA estimates that if you use heating oil your costs this winter will increase an average of 6.4 percent to $1,523. If you use electric heat, the EIA projects a jump of 9.2 percent to $853.

But if you're a natural gas user, your average bill for the season will run an average of $860, down 8.9 percent from this year.

(If you want to curb heating costs even more, here are 6 ways to shrink your heating bill.)
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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.