Saving Money on Car Insurance

When we moved here in April I got a raise to go with my promotion. It was not much of one but enough to make the move worth it. However when my husband came up here to look for a job we were in for a surprise.

In KY you have to have a journeyman's license to do what he did in AL. We talked with several people that basically said without one he would have to start off as an apprentice and work his way up. We finally found one company that said he did not have to start as an apprentice as long as he had his tax returns and could prove he had worked in the field for the required amount of time. They hired him at a lower rate than what he made in AL but provided him with the materials to study for his test and said they would give him a $2 raise once he got the license. (hopefully in the next few weeks) So with his drop in pay and my increase we are still bringing home about the same that we used too.

Our expenses have changed quite a bit as well. We no longer have the huge gas bills from driving so far to work (rougly 40 miles one way for both of us) but our childcare expenses have gone through the roof. We are able to comparison shop here and save money on groceries where before we had the choice of 2 places in the town we lived in. Our rent is $200 higher for an apt where before we had a small house with a fenced yard.

With the rising cost of everything I have been attempting to learn how to save the family some money. I have started cutting coupons and I am quite proud of how I am doing there. Now if I could just get my coupons organized.... My husband even asks me now how much I saved when I go to the store on the weekends. I will admit though that I am still learning and have quite a ways to go. On the grocery note I have also tried to cut back on all the millions of trips to the grocery store. I go to Meijer on Saturday and do the majority of my shopping, then on Sat or Sun depending on what is going on, I go to Wal Mart and pick up the rest of what I need. Both stores are within 5 min of the house too so I cut back on driving.

We have enjoyed going to the farmer's market every Sunday as well for our supply of fresh veggies and honey. Can't forget the honey. That is my sons favorite part. We also combine this trip with our trip to the laundry mat as the market is in front of our usual place on Sundays. So more gas saved.

I had my husbands new car (well new to him anyway) put with the same insurance company as mine so we qualified for the multi car discount and also got renters insurance through the same company for another discount. Now both of our cars and the renters insurance costs us less than what I was paying for just my auto insurance.

I think this is quite possibly the biggest sacrifice I made.....I had the internet turned off at the house! It saves me roughly $30 a month. I am on the computer all day at work and most of the time when I come home I do not even turn my laptop on. Yes it was nice to have it and occasionally I do need it for work but it was not worth that $30 a month. And once we can get our savings built back up I will turn it back on.

My goal is to get our savings built back up. We did not have much to begin with but what we did have has been used up with the cost of moving, and some emergency trips back to AL. It is going to be a challenge with the holidays coming up. But I have lots of helpful blogs to help point me in the right direction!