These days, it’s important to try to find ways to save money everywhere you can, so how about I show you how to save money on auto insurance. There are more and more seemingly “fixed” items in our monthly budgets, but you auto insurance does not need to be one. I used to make the mistake of trying to find good coverage for what I needed, at what I thought was a good price, and then just let it go and I kept renewing and paying the same thing without much thought. Well, that’s until I realized how much I could and should be saving on my car insurance. So here are my top 5 ideas on how to save money on auto insurance.

My first tip for how to save money on auto insurance is to make sure you look around and compare coverage every six months. Things may be changing in your life that can affect how these car insurance companies view you. This is particularly important to remember if you have recently experienced major changes in your lifestyle. Perhaps you’ve moved to a new area, have a new job, maybe like many and under-employed (either way you may be driving much less), make sure you remember to keep your coverage up to date and it could save some extra cash.

My second idea for how to save money on auto insurance is to lower coverage on your older cars. If it is old and perhaps paid off, it may make sense to drop your collision coverage. That’s the coverage you have to help cover any damage you do to your own car, and it often is a sizable chunk of your premium.

Though this may be a tough one for some people to consider, another great way for how to save money on auto insurance is to carry a higher deductible. Simply put, the higher your deductible, the lower your insurance premiums will be. It is a calculated risk, but one that may make more financial sense for many.

My fourth tip for how to save money on auto insurance is to ask your insurance carrier for more discounts. Some discounts they will likely give you automatically, but others you have to ask for. This may also change as your circumstances change. There are so many auto insurance discounts available, if you are not taking advantage of a good number or them, you are likely missing out or maybe need another carrier that offers more. Just a few of the many include good drive discounts, discounts for your child if they get good grades in school, discounts for the many safety features you may have on your vehicle, discounts for the kind of work you do or for driving few miles a year. Some now even offer reductions on deductibles over time to reward you for driving safely. The discounts are out there, it may pay to find them.

My last idea for how to save money on auto insurance is to stop paying your auto insurance premium monthly. There are several ways they allow you to pay your premiums for your convenience, but you will pay for it in the end. A lot of insurance carriers (and not just for auto) can charge you multiple “administrative” fees and surcharges when you break up your payments into installments. Though seemingly small for the convenience, those fees add up quickly and end up costing you a good amount by the end of the year. Furthermore, many carriers will offer a discount (up to 15%-20%) for paying your premiums in lump sums . . . so consider paying every 6 months or even annually to save money.

I hope some of these ways for how to save money on auto insurance can save you some money as well. Just don’t make the same mistake I did for years. Your auto insurance is not one of those things you “set and forget.” Both your life circumstances and the auto insurance industry are constantly changing, and if you stay up on it, some of these changes can help lower your premiums and save you money in the long run. If you have more ways for how to save money on auto insurance be sure to comment below and pass them on!