Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Saving money

We switched our car insurance to Geico a couple of years ago.  We haven't had any accidents to turn in, so I don't know how good they are when you need them, but I thought we ought to be able to get some cheaper insurance.  Still, being the lazy person I am, I put off looking around for a better buy.  Then yesterday I received an email from Swagbucks.


That's all it took to get me interested:  This was something I had been putting off for a year, and I could get free Swagbucks in the process!  I filled out an online form, submitted it, and my phone started ringing.  The first call I got was from some lady who put me on hold while we waited for an agent.  I got tired of waiting and told her I wasn't going to sit there all day on hold, so she said she would have him call me later.  As soon as I hung up the phone rang again, and this was an agent with Progressive.  Long story short, we are now paying $52 monthly instead of $76.  That may get even lower, thanks to a program they call Snapshot, which can lower the bill as much as 30%, although the agent said it saves most people 10 to 20%.  I don't know how they informed all those insurance agents that were sending me emails and calling, but as soon as I officially signed up for the insurance, I got no more calls or emails.    

Later I went to the mailbox and found an invitation from Dish Network to become a customer.  We've had Direct TV since 2010 and prefer it, but it costs so much!  When you get it, your first year is very reasonable; then the monthly price doubles.  You have to stay with them for two years, though.  So to have the cheapest rates, you switch back and forth every two years, and with every switch you have to get used to a new remote and different ways of doing things.  
Anyhow.  A customer service lady worked with me and found a deal that will give me more channels than we had and save me twenty bucks a month for a year.  Plus two months of movie channels (that we will hardly ever watch).  We'll worry about what to do next after the year is up.  Maybe they will figure out some other deal to keep me with them.  

I wonder if I can think of some other way to save money.  

6 comments:

  1. All those savings do add up. Good for you on being a smart shopper.

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  2. I'm surprised that you actually got some good deals (I didn't think they still exist).
    I have Allstate Insurance for my vehicles and they are extremely expensive - - even though I haven't had any accidents or tickets.

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  3. I go thrifting to save here. We just investigated getting DISH TV here too. You have saved a bundle for sure.

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  4. I should probably shop around for insurance or at least drop my CA child! I pay more like $120 a month, but for three people, two cars and my younger daughter doesn't have the best driving record. *ahem*

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  5. Geico is what we have on motorcycles. We had it on cars but found out we could get same coverage at half the price at State Farm. Progressive was higher than Geico!

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