Is there anything worse than car insurance? Last year I wrote about how I have a flawless driving record and am still paying way too much for car insurance.
Over the 10.5 years I’ve been driving, I’ve paid car insurance companies roughly $100 a month. It was obviously higher than $100 when I was 16, and it’s lower today than $100 today, but I think a $100/month average is pretty reasonable.
$100 * 12 months * 10.5 years = $12,600
And how many claims have I made? None. I’ve never received a penny of benefit from the car insurance companies I’ve had over the years. If I could have just kept that money, I’d have enough to pay for a brand new car in cash.
Car Insurance is Necessary
Don’t get me wrong. As much as I hate paying for something I’ve never used (and hope I’ll never have to use), I do understand it is important to protect yourself against the huge financial loss you might incur in an accident.
Not to mention the fact that driving without car insurance is illegal in Texas. If you want the privilege of driving, you need car insurance. I completely understand.
I just want to pay as little as possible for my insurance. I logged into my account the other day and found a great way to save money on car insurance.
Take a defensive driving course.
Spend $25 and 5 Hours to Save Hundreds!
I have car insurance through GEICO, and it’s pretty cheap. I’ve shopped around, and nobody else has been as low as the $70.10 I pay a month with GEICO. However, I can make it even lower by taking defensive driving.
According to my online account, I can save $41.30 every six months just for taking a defensive driving course. And the best part is the course is good for 36 months. That’s three years of saving $41.30 every six months.
That comes to a total of $247.80 saved over three years. Subtract the $25 it costs for the course, and that’s $222.80 in total savings. All just for taking a 5 hour defensive driving course.
By my math, that means you’ll be paid $44.56 per hour to take defensive driving. I don’t know about you, but that’s a heck of a lot more than I make at my job.
The Best Way to Take Defensive Driving
The best way to take defensive driving is to do it online. There’s really no other option. I’ve done it many times before (to get rid of a ticket and now for cheaper insurance) and it’s very easy. There are lots of websites out there and you can Google it to find one, but I use Comedy Defensive Driving.
It’s pretty boring, but the nice thing is you don’t have to pay very close attention while you’re doing it. You can write a blog, surf the web, or do whatever else you want as it plays in the background. You just have to answer 3 of 4 questions correctly at the end of each lesson.
Most of the questions are simply common sense, although a few are tricky. If you miss more than 1, you have to retake that section and try again.
If you’re going to use this service, they usually charge $29.95. However, just do a google search for “Comedy Defensive Driving Coupon Code” and you’ll find a coupon code to save $4.95 and just pay $25 bucks.
Saving Money has Never Been so Easy
This was a really easy way for me to save money on car insurance. I recommend you log onto your auto insurance website or call them and see if you can take defensive driving to lower your premiums. Best case scenario, you save a few hundred bucks over the years. Worst case, they don’t offer the discount and it doesn’t cost you anything.
Now go. Right now. Seriously, don’t do it later. Find out if you can get a discount now and THEN GO DO IT!
Kevin McKee is an entrepreneur, IT guru, and personal finance leader. In addition to his writing, Kevin is the head of IT at Buildingstars, Co-Founder of Padmission, and organizer of Laravel STL. He is also the creator of www.contributetoopensource.com. When he’s not working, Kevin enjoys podcasting about movies and spending time with his wife and four children.
I hate the online defensive driving. I won’t make myself finish it. Instead I prefer the comedy class. The last one I took the guy gave us the answers to the test. Yeah you have to sit there for 5 hours but we took lots of breaks and the first 1.5 hours we were introducing ourselves and why we were taking the class. Pretty easy and I laughed a lot!
I’ve never done the class in person. And yes, if I had to pay close attention to the whole 5 hours of the online thing I would die. The one I use is just background noise.
I’ve heard about these courses too! I just found that link in my Geico account, but evidentially in Ohio you must be at least 50 years and take the course to quality for the discount. I’m guessing the age requirement is a state law.
Yeah, it Maryland it is the same deal.Good to know if I move to TX I can take advantage of that. I heard that Progressive has a program where you can stick a comkputer chip on your car so it sees how often you drive, how fast you brake, etc. And they can give you discounts based on that data.
I took a in class course about 5 years ago, I have been planning to do it again, but have not had the drive to do it yet, now I realize the savings, I may just go ahead and make it a goal now.
I calculated my savings, and I would be getting paid $62.97/hr to take a defensive driver course. About triple what I make every hour. Totally worth it.
I’m in Michigan and got linked me to a course for $39. Plus if I want proof that I passed, it’s another $7.95 for a grand total of $46.95. Hmm…got a little bit of bait and switch going on here. I’ll have to talk to my insurance guy to see how much I would save by doing this to see if it’s worth it.