Image by Flickr user Simone Ramella Image by 20090724-smog.jpg

A $1 billion federal program aims to stimulate the economy and get some gas-guzzlers off the road, and it officially gets going today, July 24.

The basics are that you'll need to have a car that gets 18 MPG or less, and buy a car that gets 10 MPG more than your trade.

I'll spare you all the dribble but it sounds like a real win for the economy and our gas reserves. If you want to know more, you can: Go to your car dealer, read this New York Times brief, read this article in The Post and Courier, or hop over to CARS.gov to read for yourself.

Just know that the program runs through November 1, or whenever all the money has been used up (that's some 250,000 trade ins).

Oh, and for reference, the name of the program is: "Car Allowance Rebate System."