Welcome!
(Sorry about your intro post getting stuck in moderation limbo - I changed a setting to help weed out spammers, and your post got caught in the net.)
Congrats on picking the manual for the Corolla - that's one of the biggest factors in potential fuel savings. The
EPA test procedure handicaps manuals by a pretty big margin, and that makes it easy for a motivated eco-driver to exceed the ratings -- much easier than the same car with an automatic.
Also, it's just more enjoyable to drive.