Tax-filing season is in full swing, with millions of filers already sending in their forms -- primarily because they are expecting a refund from the Internal Revenue Service.

Regardless of whether your cash back from Uncle Sam is a few hundred dollars or several thousand dollars, any amount of money can go a long way if you think before you spend. Try one of these money-smart suggestions:

1. Pay down credit card debt.
OK, so this doesn't sound as appealing as a new flat-screen TV. But if you can knock out -- or knock down -- the balance of even one high-interest credit card, you're making money. Think of all the interest you won't be paying.

2. Open an IRA.
Or, if you already have one, use your refund toward your annual contribution. Been putting this move off until you had "a little extra money?" Today's your lucky day. Any amount "will compound nicely," says Chris Farrell, author of "Right on the Money."

3. Take stock.
Historically, stocks have produced nice returns, and even a few hundred dollars can get your nest egg off to a nice start.

"The biggest mistake people make is thinking (what they have) is too small an amount to invest," says Ric Edelman, author of "Ordinary People, Extraordinary Wealth." "Rich people start off as poor people. The

NEW YORK (AP) -- Gasoline and oil prices extended their record-setting streaks Wednesday, with gas at the pump reaching a new high of nearly $3.25 and crude surpassing $110 for the first time.

The gains came as a weakening dollar led investors to shrug off an Energy Department report that crude oil and gasoline supplies jumped last week.

The national average price of a gallon of regular gas rose by 1.9 cents overnight to $3.246 a gallon, a new record, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Pump prices are following crude's recent surge, and could rise as high as $3.75 a gallon this spring, analysts say.

Meanwhile, light, sweet crude for April delivery rose $1.17 to settle at a record $109.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after earlier rising to a new trading record of $110.20.

The dollar weakened throughout the day Wednesday, setting a number of new lows against the euro and attracting new buyers to the oil market. Crude futures offer a hedge against a falling dollar, and oil futures bought and sold in dollars are more attractive to foreign investors when the dollar is weak. Many analysts believe the dollar's decline is the reason crude futures have surged to new records in 12 of the

Cash-strapped consumers are developing a bad habit: using their retirement savings to tackle everything from credit-card debt and late mortgage payments to income tax bills.

In 2007, 18% of employees reported taking out a loan from their 401(k) or 403(b) (the employer-funded equivalent for public educators and nonprofit employees), up from 11% in 2006, according to the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, a nonprofit. Of those borrowing, 49% said they needed the money to pay off debts, nearly twice the number that previously cited that reason. Major employer-sponsored retirement plan providers, including Fidelity Investments, J.P. Morgan Chase and T. Rowe Price Group, have reported similar trends. The average outstanding loan balance: $7,292.

"Consumers are dipping into their 401(k) accounts because they don't have any other options," says Mark Nash, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers' Private Company Services Practice in Dallas, which advises clients on retirement issues. The credit crunch and slumping real estate market have limited homeowners' ability to secure home equity loans. Combine that with a national savings rate that has languished near zero percent since 2005 and consumers have few accessible liquid assets with which to handle a possible job loss, wage decrease or crippling debt.

In dire situations like these, borrowing from your 401(k) may seem like the best recourse; it is your money, after all. And instead of paying the plan provider interest, you're paying yourself interest