The Saturday Morning That Pays for Itself

My car insurance went up $340 this year. No accidents. No tickets. No claims. Just a letter in the mail telling me I owed more for the same thing.

I called to ask why. The answer was basically: “costs went up.” That’s it. No explanation. No apology. Just a bigger bill.

So I did something I should’ve done years ago. I pulled out every insurance policy I pay for—auto, home, umbrella, and life—and spent a Saturday morning making calls. By noon, I’d cut over $1,200 a year from bills I’d been overpaying on for who knows how long.

Here’s what I found.

Auto premiums are up over 30% since 2023. The average American now pays about $2,700 a year. If you haven’t shopped in three years, you’re paying a loyalty tax. Insurance companies reward new customers and quietly raise rates on the ones who stay.

I called three companies—State Farm, Amica, and one regional carrier a friend uses. Got quotes with the same coverage I already had. The cheapest quote was $480 less than what I was paying. Same limits. Same deductible. Different company.

If you haven’t gotten a competing quote in the last two years, you’re overpaying. That’s not opinion. That’s math.

Most people set their home insurance deductible at $500 or $1,000 when they bought the house and never changed it. But here’s the thing: if you can afford a $2,500 deductible, raising it from $1,000 can cut your annual premium by 15% to 25%.

Think about when you last filed a home claim. For most guys, the answer is never. You’re paying for a low deductible you never use. Raise it, pocket the savings, and keep that $1,500 difference in a savings account. You’re self-insuring the small stuff and paying less for the big stuff.

I raised mine. Saved $310 a year. Took five minutes on the phone.

If your auto and home insurance are with different companies, you’re leaving money on the table. Bundling can save 10% to 25% on both policies. Some carriers offer up to 30% when you add an umbrella policy.

But here’s what nobody tells you: the cheapest bundle isn’t always the carrier with the biggest discount. A 25% discount on an overpriced policy is still overpriced. Get quotes for both separate and bundled policies before you commit. Compare the total, not the percentage.

An umbrella policy. If you have real assets—a house, savings, investments—you need one. It adds $1 million or more in liability coverage on top of your auto and home policies. If someone sues you after a car accident, a slip on your property, or anything else, your standard coverage might not be enough.

The cost: about $150 to $300 a year for $1 million in coverage. That’s less than a dollar a day to protect everything you’ve built. If you don’t have one, call your carrier today.

If your kids are grown and your mortgage is paid off, you may not need life insurance at all. That was a hard pill for me to swallow. I’d been paying $180 a month for a policy I bought when my kids were small. The need was real then. It isn’t now.

If you still need coverage—maybe you have a surviving spouse who depends on your income, or a child with special needs—make sure you’re in the right kind of policy. Term life is cheap and simple. Whole life is expensive and complicated. If someone sold you whole life years ago, it might be worth reviewing whether it still makes sense. Talk to a fee-only advisor, not the person who sold you the policy.

Three hours. Four phone calls. And I added better protection (the umbrella) while cutting my total cost by $1,200. That’s $100 a month back in my pocket for doing nothing more than paying attention.

Pick a Saturday. Pull out the policies. Make the calls. You’ll be done before lunch and richer by Monday.

— Walter