How to Get the Best Deal for Your Auto Insurance

Auto insurance is a necessary thing, something that we're all required to have if we're going to drive. It can also get expensive, especially if you stick with one company and never shop around. One of the best ways we've found to save money on our auto insurance - besides paying for the policy annually instead of monthly (or even every 6 months) - is to find an agency that represents multiple insurance companies. Every year, they review our policies and select the ones that give us the best deal.

Below are a few things to keep in mind when searching for the best deal on your car insurance rates.

• See If You Qualify for Good Driver Discounts
  Take full advantage of any type of discount that is offered, whether it's a good student, good driver, military, or any other savings plan. Saving a few dollars each month can add up over the calendar year. Make sure you add the information about low mileage use if you are only taking your car around the local area.
• Only Purchase the Coverage You Need
  Don't opt for coverage that you might never use. Adding excessive amounts of property and medical coverage can hurt your wallet in the long run. Weigh out carefully whether your car is worth enough to carry full coverage insurance. It might be better to stick with liability only if your car is older and in less-than-perfect condition. (this is one area that could possibly save us some money because our vehicles are several years old, and should something happen, the amount the insurance will pay will be far from enough to purchase a new vehicle)

• Do you qualify for multiple vehicle savings?
  Including more than one vehicle on your insurance policy will get you automatic savings with most companies. Adding two or more vehicles will reduce the price you would pay for each one separately. Also consider insuring your home and your vehicles with the same company for multi-policy discounts.
• Get Quotes from Several Companies
  Not all companies charge the same rates. Gather up several quotes to make a comparison. Take the time to investigate how people review the quality of each company. It might be worth paying a few extra dollars if you have faster claims and better customer service.

Find the auto insurance Orlando FL residents count on to give the best rates and top service in the area. Don't get caught without the right type of insurance for your vehicles.

This Simple Trick Could Save You Hundreds of Dollars on Car Insurance

How's that for a link bait title?  But just keep reading, because this might just save you hundreds of dollars every year on your car insurance.

Since we moved from Wisconsin to Indiana, we've been a bit frustrated with our insurance rates.  Not only are we insuring the exact same cars and the exact same drivers - at a much higher rate - but those already high rates seem to go up every year.  And when I say go up, I don't mean a little bit.  This past month when we got our auto insurance bill, it had gone up over $200 from the last time we paid it.

So Jeffrey started calling other insurance companies to see if we could save some money by switching companies.  They say you should compare rates on a regular basis, but we honestly never felt a big need to do it.  Until now.  In Wisconsin our rates were reasonable, and when they did go up, it was entirely reasonable.

While he was calling other companies, Jeffrey called our current insurance agent too, to find out why the policy had gone up so much.  The basic answer is that there has been more severe weather in recent years, and they've had to pay out more in claims - so somebody has to pay for that.  That's where all their insurance customers come in - whether or not we've filed any claims.  After all, the insurance company's stock holders expect to make a profit.

Jeffrey asked him if there was something we could do to lower our rates, and that's when our agent told him that if he rewrote our policy and we would be willing to pay annually instead of every 6 months, we could save over $800 a year.  Of course that's not something they're going to tell you.  Unless you ask.  And you have to be able to pay a year's worth of insurance at one time, which in this case amounted to paying about $400 more than we would've had to pay anyway - just for 6 months.

Of course, there's no guarantee you'll get the same savings through your insurance company, but it's certainly worth calling to find out.  And if you're calling insurance companies to compare rates, be sure to ask about the cost of an annual policy while you're at it.  You just might be able to save hundreds of dollars every year.

Related articles

• 12 Secrets Your Auto Insurance Company Won't Tell You

What, Do They Drive on the Other Side of the Road There?

So we're moving.  And we're going to have to get new drivers licenses in our new state.  Never mind that I have a perfectly good drivers license already that doesn't expire for another 5 years.  And also had to renew the sticker for my license plate, because it expired today - and we move out of state in 11 days.  I called to see if I could get an extension or something.  But no - basically she said, "you're really just screwed.  Whether it's 1 day or 365 days, you still pay.  The same amount.  It's an annual fee."

Apparently I can't wait 5 years or even 1 year to renew things that I've already paid good money for.  I guess the respective DMVs or DOTs or whatever they are have to make money somehow...

Then today Jeffrey mentioned that to get these new drivers licenses we have to take a written test - as if 20+ years of driving doesn't count for anything.  Seriously, isn't the written test for new drivers?  What, are their rules of the road so very different there?  Do they drive on the other side of the road or something?  I mean, written tests are fine for new drivers who have just taken Drivers Ed and studied all that stuff, but the rest of us have been out on the roads driving.  Who remembers how many feet you're supposed to signal ahead of a turn?  And even if I did know how many feet, I wouldn't really know what that means in real life - I just do it.  I'm also one of the few people who seems to know that, on the highway, you're supposed to drive in the right lane and use the left lane for passing.  And, this probably has nothing to do with a drivers license, but I'm also one of the few people that knows pedestrians are supposed to walk on the left side of the street, facing traffic.  At least one of the few in this town - maybe they all know that over there.

Unless, of course, they drive on the other side of the road there, in which case pedestrians should still walk facing traffic, but it would be on the right-hand side of the street.

Seriously, I doubt any of the rules in the new state are any different than in all the rest of the states, which kind of makes a written test a bit ridiculous for people who have been driving for years.

And then there's the fact that a valid current Wisconsin drivers license isn't good enough for ID.  No, they want a birth certificate, and my social security card, and I don't know what all.  Really?  Let's just treat all the new people as if they don't know anything and as if they lied to get the license they currently hold.  Yep, way to make me feel at home.

Keep Pace with Traffic

I'm going through some old school papers today and getting rid of stuff we don't need anymore.  Truth be told, we haven't needed them in quite a while, but ...

I found the Wisconsin Department of Transportation Motorists' Handbook that Cory got when he was taking Drivers' Ed. Here's something that people, at least in this state, are taught when learning to drive:

Keep pace with traffic: If you are driving faster than other traffic, you will need to keep passing others.  Each time you pass someone, there is a greater chance for a collision.  The vehicle you are passing may change lanes or, on a two-lane road, an oncoming vehicle may suddenly appear.  Slow down and keep pace with other traffic.  Speeding does not save more than a few minutes for each hour of driving.

and here's the important part, the part that so many drivers do not seem to know:

Going much slower than other vehicles can be just as bad as speeding.  It is dangerous and you can be ticketed for impeding traffic.  It tends to make vehicles bunch up behind you and causes other traffic to pass you.  If vehicles are lined up behind you, pull over when safe to do so and let them pass. You should either drive faster or consider using a road with slower posted speeds.

I guess that's just another of those things we all learn in school and then forget.  But I do wish those slow drivers would just get out of my way!

Here's a very interesting discussion on slow drivers in the left lane.  Like most of the commenters seem to be saying, it's just common sense and common courtesy - and the best way to keep traffic moving - but there are people that just refuse to get it.

I Always Get Stuck with the Ones Who Can't Get it Up

Image via WikipediaI really wish I could ask these people what they're thinking.  Or if they're thinking.

It seems that I'm always getting stuck behind someone who just can't bother to get it up to the speed limit.  I went to the store today, and I got stuck behind slow drivers both on the way there and on the way home.  Nice road, nice weather, no reason whatsoever why they have to drive under 50mph in a 55mph speed zone.  It amazes me how many people do that.  What, are they afraid to drive any faster?  They don't have anywhere to go?  I guess technically speed limit means that's the fastest you're supposed to drive, so anything below that is acceptable.  Maybe that's what they're thinking.  Or there's something about getting better gas mileage by driving slower.  Maybe that's it.

Whatever it is, I'd really appreciate it if they would stay out of my way.  When I actually get out on the road, it's because I have someplace to go, and I'd like to get there sooner rather than later.

Road Trip, Baby!

Image via Wikipedia

Here we are at the beginning of a long weekend, Memorial Day, the unofficial beginning of summer.  That means people all over the country will be hitting the road for the first road trip of the summer - whether visiting family or hitting the beach somewhere, hopefully one with NO SMOKING. (So irritating to set up everything at the beach only to have some stupid chain smoker set up camp right next to my blanket!)

Anyway, about that road trip.  This morning on GMA, they asked -If you could take just one CD with you on a road trip, which one would it be?

We always take plenty of CDs with us when we go on a road trip, but if I had to choose only one, it would have to be Pink's Funhouse.  I can listen to that CD over and over again.  In fact, there have been plenty of times I have done just that.

How about you?  Which CD would you take?

Parking Perfection (games)

When Beth was learning to drive, I came across this game I thought would be great practice for learning to park.  And then I found myself getting addicted.  I had forgotten about it until I came across an old link to it tonight - a link that didn't work! - so I went searching to find it again.

Here it is - Parking Perfection - and there are several versions.  Believe it or not, I know I learned how to parallel park in Drivers Ed, but I've never had to do it since.  I don't even know if I could and would most likely just go find somewhere else to park or not stop at all if I had to.  But, maybe playing a silly game on the computer can give me enough of an idea or brush-up on how it's done, so if I had to, I could.  Maybe.

Related articles

• How to Parallel Park (athingforcars.com)
• Why women are the parking-challenged gender (theglobeandmail.com)

Evie - Voice app for iPhone

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Evie. All opinions are 100% mine.

This kind of reminds me of Star Trek.  You know how they could ask the computer and get any information they needed without touching a thing?  Enter Evie, the voice app for iPhone.  Tell Evie what you want, and Evie delivers.  Call anyone on your contacts list just by saying his name or just say a number you want to call.  Examples: “Call Steve on his cell phone” or “Call 514-555-1212.”  That last could come in really handy for trying to win some of those radio giveaways - the ones where they rattle off the phone number while you're driving down the road, and by the time you've got the number punched into the phone and hit send, they've already got a winner.  But then, maybe that's just me.

Uploaded with Skitch!

Evie can also play anything you have on your iPhone.  Just say the name of the artist, song, audiobook, or whatever you want to listen to.  You can also listen to your facebook feeds with Evie.  This could come in handy not just for keeping up with your friends, which is really important, but also for getting the latest traffic updates.  I heard on our local news this morning that they regularly post traffic updates to their facebook page, and I was wondering how that would do anyone who was actually out on the road any good.  Now I know.  Drivers with an iPhone and Evie can safely stay updated.

For ease of use, convenience, and safety, this sweet little app would be great for anyone, especially those who do a lot of driving because really, you should not be messing with your phone a lot while you are driving.  Busy moms trying to get things done and keep up with the kids could really use this app, too.  With Evie, you can still do what you need want to do - hands free.  Download Evie FREE from the iPhone App Store and try it for yourself.

Got Cory Back to Campus

Cory and I got out of here before noon to take him back to college.  Cory drove on the way over.  The roads weren't too bad - snow covered but manageable, and he's a really good driver.  I can't remember how much experience he got driving in snow last winter, but he did a fine job.  Me, I'd rather not drive in the snow, but you do what you gotta do.

Thankfully, Cory texted one of his friends before we left, and got her up and out of bed.  She and her roommate met us when we got to the parking lot and helped carry his stuff up all those stairs.  So it only took two trips instead of the 4 or 5 it would have taken if it had only been the two of us.  That was nice.  Very helpful.

When I headed home, Cory told me to call or text him when I got home so he'd know I was safe.  Isn't he sweet?  I usually ask the kids to call me when they get where they're going, if the weather's bad or if they're going somewhere new.  And now, he's turning it around on me.

I texted him when I got home.  Safely.  It was fairly uneventful until I got behind a really slow truck.   I'd been driving about 50mph most of the time, and that seemed fine.  This truck was going anywhere between 30mph to maybe 40mph once in a while.  Seriously?  There was no reason to be going so slow.  So, after I got behind the truck, it was still uneventful - just frustrating, and I really didn't feel like trying to pass.

But I finally got home and went ahead and shoveled the driveway before coming in, because the snow had really piled up while I was gone.  I didn't necessarily want to get rid of the boy, but I'm glad we went when we did because the snow just kept coming all day, so it was good to get it over with.  Besides, he needed time to put all that stuff away.

Do I Want to Go Out Today?

No, I don't.  It's one of those snowy days when I'd rather stay home and watch the snow from inside my warm, cozy house.  And usually I do just that, because there's nowhere that I have to be.  But, today I must go out.

Cory needs to go back to school.    Classes start tomorrow, and winter break is over.    He's been gathering all his stuff and loading it into the van, and soon we'll have to head out.  It's actually supposed to snow all day, so I suppose it doesn't matter when we actually get out of here.  I don't think it's going to make much of a difference.  The roads will be the same, and when we get there, we'll still have to carry all that stuff up four flights of stairs to his dorm room.  So, I suppose I could just keep him a little longer...

Looking at the Sky on Friday - 80

I’m so glad there’s a meme like Looking at the Sky on Friday, because it means all the time I spend looking at the sky, and taking pictures of it, has a purpose! Click the badge for more info.

On our trip to Lexington December 23rd, the sky was a bit difficult to see.  At least for a while.

I was quite thankful that I wasn’t the one driving.  It did clear up before too long, and the rest of the trip was blue skies and sunshine.

Update: This will be the last Looking at the Sky on Friday post, because Tisha has decided to say good-bye.  Something about having young children and a busy life…  Thanks for hosting as long as you did, Tisha!  It was a lot of fun to be a part of it.

Otter - Auto Reply App for Smartphones

I just got a comment on my post about texting and driving, and I thought it was definitely worth sharing.  Because I'm just now starting to text, I don't understand how addictive it can be for people - and that just not doing it isn't as easy as it might sound. 

From Erik:

I think we live in a culture where business people need to 'hit the ball over the net'. Teens consider it rude not to reply immediately to texts. Home schedules would grind to a halt without immediate communication. We are conditioned to pursue this level of efficiency but we are all supposed cease this behavior once we sit in our respective 5,000 pound pieces of steel and glass. Anyone can win an argument in a forum like this by saying "Just put the phone away" - but we can see it;s just not happening.

I just read that 72% of teens text daily - many text more 4000 times a month. New college students no longer have email addresses! They use texting and Facebook - even with their professors. This text and drive issue is in its infancy and I think we need to do more than legislate.

I decided to do something about it after my three year old daughter was nearly run down right in front of me by a texting driver. Instead of a shackle that locks down phones and alienates the user (especially teens) I built a tool called OTTER that is a simple GPS based texting auto reply app for smartphones. It also silences call ringtones while driving unless you have a bluetooth enabled. I think if we can empower the individual then change will come to our highways now and not just our laws.

Erik Wood, owner
OTTER LLC
OTTER app

Erik did not leave a link, so I looked up his app - Otter app - and I thought I'd share in case this sounds like something that would be helpful for you - either for yourself or to help protect your teen drivers.

Related articles

• No Texting and Driving (alwaysbcmom.com)

No Texting and Driving

Image by mrJasonWeaver via Flickr

Speaking of texting (see last post), as of December 1st it is illegal to text and drive in the state of Wisconsin.  I may be figuring out how to text and do things with my new phone, but I cannot imagine ever thinking that I can text and drive at the same time.  I don't need a law to tell me not to.  But, apparently, a lot of people did.

I've always told my kids not to talk on the phone while driving, at least not for any length of time, and definitely not to text.  Of course, not being in the car with them all the time, I can't really be sure whether they're listening to me or not.  I wonder if one of these sim card spy things would have been able to tell me?  It says it can read deleted texts, but I'm not sure if it can tell when those texts were being sent and read.  If they can do that, then law enforcement could probably use some of these - because when I was talking to Beth about the new texting and driving law, she started saying there was no way the police could prove someone was texting while driving.  If someone was stopped, they'd have plenty of time to delete all recent texts.  No texts, no proof they'd done anything wrong.  That is, unless the police officer has a sim card spy that can recover those lost texts.

My plan is not to ever text while driving in the first place.  So I won't have to worry about whether or not the police are capable of recovering lost cell phone data.
  

Related articles

• Texting Ban Begins December 1 (alwaysbcmom.com)
• Texting While Driving Accidents Increase; Henness and Haight Las Vegas Injury Attorneys Explain How Americans Can Protect Themselves (prweb.com)

Texting Ban Begins December 1

Image via Wikipedia

From AAA:

Thanks in part to a national campaign sponsored by AAA, the act of composing or sending electronic text messages while driving will become illegal in Wisconsin effective Wednesday, December 1, 2010.
Wisconsin joins 30 other states in enacting this legislation, which prohibits behind-the-wheel texting via cell phones, laptop computers plus a host of other wireless communication devices. Authorized emergency personnel will be exempt as will the use of global positioning devices (GPS).
 
The Penalties for Texting
Under Wisconsin law, texting while driving will be classified as a primary offense, which means you can be pulled over and ticketed based on a text messaging offense alone. Violators will face fines ranging from $20 to $400.

Ban Backed by Public
This welcome reform stems from a groundswell of public support - punctuated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's findings attributing nearly 6,000 deaths and 500,000 injuries in 2008 to distracted driving habits - such as texting.
Additional findings have shown that individuals who text while driving are more than 20 times more likely to be involved in a crash than non-distracted drivers. Wisconsin's new anti-texting law will help reduce this dangerous behavior and lead to safer roadways.
For more information on the dangers of distracted driving, plus tips on managing distractions, AAA encourages you to read The Facts About Distracted Driving.

I don't do any texting so I don't really understand the obsession some people have for it.  I don't even feel comfortable talking on my cell phone for very long while driving or trying to find a contact in my phone.  I cannot imagine trying to send and receive text messages.  To me, it seems incredibly obvious that you should never text and drive - but obviously not.  Otherwise there wouldn't be a need for a law to prevent it.

Looking at the Sky on Friday - 69

I’m so glad there’s a meme like Looking at the Sky on Friday, because it means all the time I spend looking at the sky, and taking pictures of it, has a purpose! Click the badge for more info.

I took these on from the van when we were taking Cory back to his dorm a couple weeks ago.

If you enjoy skies as much as I do, be sure to check out Looking at the Sky on Friday.

How Do You Feel About Spying on Your Teenagers?

First let me say that I didn't really spy on my kids.  Too much.  It wasn't really that I thought it was wrong or an invasion of privacy - though Beth would have definitely complained about that if she had thought I was spying on her.  It's more that I didn't think about it until later.

Beth used to hang out with her friends in the basement, and there were times when it would have been really nice to have some kind of hidden camera down there so we could keep an eye on them.  As it is, we just randomly went down and checked on them once in a while, but with a camera, it wouldn't have been so random.  I wonder how long it would have taken Beth to figure out how we knew what was going on down there?  Or maybe she just would have figured that parents know everything, and she couldn't get away with anything.

After she'd been driving a while, I started thinking we should have installed a vehicle tracking device on the car, so we could have checked up on her and made sure she was where she said she was when she said she was.  There were some times I'm pretty sure she was lying, but there was no real way to prove it.   That tracking device would have answered all the questions.

So the question is - should you spy on your teenagers?  How do you feel about it?  Is it something you would consider?  I'm thinking that I would have done it, if only I'd thought of it in the beginning, but instead of hiding the camera, I'd put it right out in the open, and I'd tell her her car was being tracked.  That way she'd know we were keeping an eye on her - maybe not all the time, but she'd never know when.  Just a little incentive to make sure she was behaving herself.  And, of course, we'd have to keep an eye on Cory, too, or we'd hear about how unfair it was - though he never quite needed watching the same way she did.

Don't Lock Your Keys in the Car

Image by Tattooed JJ via Flickr

Sounds simple enough, right?  Just don't lock your keys in the car.

Unfortunately, it seems we all do it once in a while.  Earlier this week I got a call from Beth.  She was on lunch break at work and discovered she'd left her keys lying on the front seat of her car.  She wanted to know if Cory wanted to take a little drive and come unlock her car with my keys.  Instead, I told her to call AAA - because that's what we pay them for.  And since she works 20 minutes or so from here, it made more sense.

So she she called AAA, they sent out a locksmith, and she got her car unlocked in time to go back to work.  Unfortunately she didn't get anything to eat, but at least she had her car keys back so she could leave work when she got off.

I told her that, in the future, the best way to keep from locking your keys in the car is to always lock the car door with the remote.  That way you have to have the keys in your hand in order to lock the car, and there's no way to lock them in.

We'll see how that works for her.

Cory Got His License!

In all the 'excitement' of the tornado, I forgot to mention that Cory got his driver's license.  Actually, he got it the day after Jeffrey and I got back from Vegas - so I had plenty of time to mention it (a few days, anyway), but I didn't.  Sometimes I just don't get to things in a timely manner.  Why does real life always seem to get in the way?

Anyway, it was about time the boy got his license.  Last year we just renewed his learner's permit.  Partially it was because we didn't have to pay for the insurance.  Visit autoinsurancequotes.com and you'll see that paying insurance for a teenage boy isn't cheap.  It wasn't just the insurance, though.  Unlike his sister Beth, who wanted to drive every chance she got from the minute she got her temps, Cory never seemed to care whether he drove or not.  Often he'd just rather sit in the back seat and read whenever we went someplace.  And, since he didn't have any real need to drive, he didn't really need to get his license.

Since he's gotten it, it's been pretty nice, though.  It seems he's had graduation parties and other events practically non-stop - and we haven't had to drive him to any of those things!  So, yes, it's convenient.  It was also nice that when he went to Whitewater yesterday for his college orientation and registration I didn't have to take him and then go back later to pick him up.  I'm not sure what kind of autoinsurancequotes.com we got from our insurance agent so I don't know how much this is going to cost us, but I guess it's just part of life. 

We were going to give Beth the Buick and get her off our insurance when she moved out, but we had some issues with emissions and repairs, and I had already paid for the license plate sticker, which the DOT was not going to refund, so we decided to wait until September when it's time to pay the insurance again.  Then she can get her own autoinsurancequotes.com and pay her own expenses, and we'll only have to pay for Cory.  Waiting also gives her a chance to get used to paying her own bills like rent and utilities before adding another one.

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Looking at the Sky - 58

I’m so glad there’s a meme like Looking at the Sky on Friday, because it means all the time I spend looking at the sky, and taking pictures of it, has a purpose! Click the badge for more info.

I really enjoyed this sunset as we were driving home from Illinois last weekend. 

It was kind of fun to watch the sun peek in and out of the clouds.

Since I was shooting from a moving van, I just took a bunch, hoping to get something good. Then my batteries died so I switched cameras, and then Cory shot a few from the back seat. I might even have enough photos for a couple of slideshows, but these are the ones I liked.

If you enjoy skies as much as I do, be sure to check out Looking at the Sky on Friday.

Looking at the Sky on Friday - 53

I’m so glad there’s a meme like Looking at the Sky on Friday, because it means all the time I spend looking at the sky, and taking pictures of it, has a purpose! Click the badge for more info.

Driving (riding actually – Jeffrey was driving) into the sunset.

A lot of times I feel that power lines and light poles are in the way when I’m trying to take pictures of the sky, but I kind of like them against the orange of the sunset in these.

If you enjoy skies as much as I do, be sure to check out Looking at the Sky on Friday.