Thanks for the comments on my auto insurance. I've checked around, and the cheapest I've found so far for the defensive driving courses is $50 per person. This would reduce most of the savings I'd get for year 1 (though I'd still save years 2 and 3), but it's still worth it. Who knows, it may even make me a better driver! Gail also posted a reply re: alumni discounts. Liberty Mutual has affiliations with a lot of different groups. If you're a member of one, you can get a 10% discount on your premium. I noticed while shopping at Progressive, they have a HUGE list of groups that they discount for. So if you haven't already checked this out, it may be worth looking into.
I went to lowermybills.com to check out term life insurance rates. I was pleased to see that I'm still paying a pretty cheap rate. (There was one company that was $2/month cheaper, but it wasn't as highly rated). I also got my electric bill today and it looks like my monthly budgeted billing amount won't go up next year, though I need to confirm...
Sometimes it pays to be disorganized...I went to fill out the rebate forms for a few of the Christmas gifts I bought, and realized that I couldn't get the UPC codes because I already wrapped them all! Oh well, I'll need to wait until after Christmas to fill these out. It totals up to $13. Not bad.
I think I'm going to apply for the Shell Mastercard. They're running a promotion where you get triple rebates for the first 60 days. That means a 15% rebate on Shell gas, and a 3% rebate on all other purchases for 2 months. After that, it goes to 5%/1%. I'm thinking this could be worthwhile for me because 1) I average over $300/month for gas and 2) Shell stations are convenient to where I live, and relatively inexpensive. At $300/month, I can save $240/year, if I filled up exclusively at Shell. They apply the rebates directly as a credit on your statement, which means there's no wait time, no forms to fill out, etc. So I'll do that today and see how it goes.
That's about it. Kids have a dentist appointment today...should be completely covered as "preventative care", meaning no money out of pocket.
More thoughts on insurance...
November 30th, 2005 at 06:09 pm
November 30th, 2005 at 08:00 pm 1133380807
Thanks!
November 30th, 2005 at 11:05 pm 1133391946
Laura
November 30th, 2005 at 11:14 pm 1133392442
Anyway, here's the link: http://www.texasinsurancediscountclass.com/geico
Laura
December 1st, 2005 at 02:39 am 1133404794
I also get a 10% discount through my union. My union also offers discounted def. driving courses ($18 - normally $36 in my area), so the savings really are worth it, especially over three years.