HOUSTON — It's almost like a surprise stimulus check: Gas prices have fallen so fast that the nation has found itself with an extra $125 billion to spend. But don't expect the freed-up cash to pump much life into the economy.

Filling up for less than $2.50 a gallon in some places hasn't done much to boost confidence — not when disappearing jobs, sagging home prices and the financial meltdown are everyday worries.

"Let's try six months. Let's try a year. Then we can talk about how much it's saving me," said Jacob Curtis of Columbus, Ohio, who paid $2.48 a gallon this week. "Right now, I'm just trying to make ends meet."

One in three Americans fears losing a job, half are worried about keeping up with mortgage and credit card payments and seven in 10 are anxious about shrinking stock and retirement portfolios, according to a recent Associated Press-Yahoo News poll of likely voters.

With worries like that, saving $20 or $30 on a tank of gas doesn't amount to much of a silver lining.

Make no mistake, the drop in gas prices has been dramatic. A gallon of gas is 30 percent cheaper today than it was when prices peaked this summer. On July 11, a gallon of regular averaged $4.11. On Wednesday, it was $2.86. That's almost as cheap as the $2.82 reading of a year ago.