Lower Your Car Insurance Payment!

With the recent purchase of Sally the Civic, it has become apparent to me that car insurance can really ding your wallet each month (or every six months depending on your plan). My old car was a whopping $180 every six months to insure because I was liability only. Those days are long gone...

Credits

However, hope is not lost.  There are ways to save on car insurance - you just might have to do a little prodding to get those savings!

• Good student discount. Are you in school?  Have you been in school?  Most insurance companies offer a discount for maintaing good grades -- 3.2 gpa or better.  My insurance company extends this discount until you are 25 years old, even though I graduated!
• Study program/etc discount.  When I first got my license, my insurance agent handled me this package with a dvd and questionnaire.  It was boring and consumed an entire Saturday afternoon, but once I finished their additional study course, I got a discount.  I didn't even have to take a quiz - it was pure honor code.  My car payment went from over $600/six months to $400/six months.  I don't know if this is applicable once you'd had your license for many years, but its definitely something to consider and keep in mind for future children/younger siblings.
• Clean driving record.  I, too, enjoy going above the stated speed limit.  However, know that speeding stupidly (please try to go with the flow of traffic) and other traffic violations will put points on your license and dollars on your insurance bill.  If you happen to get a ticket, go to court and beg for no points on your license.  [Side note: always request a trial and do not pay any fines if you got multiple tickets.  Thats a sign of admitting guilt.  Frequently judges will loop your tickets together and give you lower fines if you are not a repeat offender.  This is the one and only useful thing I learned from working with a criminal attorney.]
• Shop around.  Especially when you are young, insurance companies differ greatly in their rates.  Use one quote to leverage a better deal from your preferred company.  Do not just check out Progressive's quotes - do the research yourself.
• Choose a policy that's best for you.  My old car was old.  When I got her, she was eleven years old and not worth much (maybe $2500).  As a result, my insurance was liability only.  If someone hit me and had no insurance, I'd be S-O-L on car replacement, but I saved some serious bucks.  If your car has a very low value, this might be a worthwhile option.
• Ask for a discount.  Have you been a loyal customer for years?  Have you had a clean driving record and reap no benefits?  Speak up and ask for a discount.  The worst the company can do is say "No."

Personally, I love my car insurance company (State Farm) and I would offer glowing reviews to anyone in search of a new provider.  I must mention that my insurance agent has been my parent's agent since before I was born--she has gone above and beyond our expectations time and time again and we truly feel that she is on our side...even if she does consistently call me Karen.

Oh, and in case you're wondering - it costs $400 every six months for full coverage on Sally the Civic.

Life at Law School

Right now, I'm procrastinating my primary source research.  Severely.  Its amazing how productive a person can be when she does not want to do something else.  Things I've accomplished today:

• Going to class
• Special note: I'm the only person who actually read a case (US Court of Military Appeals) our crim professor included in "supplemental materials." I think I gained some brownie points.
• Special note 2: I didn't volunteer.  Our professor said "Did anyone read the case?" and then I raised my hand.  I was the only one to raise my hand.
• Question: Does that make me a gunner?  
• Vacuuming
• Cleaning the bathroom
• Two loads of laundry

Because it has been forever and this is a personal finance blog, I wanted to give you a list on how I have been frugal lately:

• I eat lunch for free nearly every day at school.  No, I don't have any interest in joining half of those clubs, but I'll take the free chipotle/pizza any day.  Don't judge me - there are starving kids in Africa and I'm doing my part to ensure that food isn't thrown out and wasted.
• I crashed the undergrad's club fair and made an entire lunch on their offerings.
• Speaking of such, I won a giftcard to a local pizza place and an Amazon.com giftcard.
• I am a fiend when it comes gaining Westlaw and LexisNexis rewards points (more on that later!)
• I have not been to the mall nor the outlets since I arrived.
• That's a lie.  I went to both.  I bought a gift for my coworker using a giftcard I had (score!).  I also bought a pair of shorts for $10.
• That is actually all I bought at both places.
• I stopped going to Starbucks.  I started going to the coffee stand guy on campus.  He only charges me $1.25 and throws in the ice for free.
• I splurged today and bought lunch at a fancy Thai restaurant today for me and the boyfriend.  It was $13.20... thank you, San Diego Restaurant Week.

Speaking of the boyfriend, this is us at a wedding last weekend. I've learned that every backdrop in San Diego is gorgeous...

Speaking of weddings, I'm flying home on Friday to see my best friend from high school get married. Everyone is getting married - except me.  And I'm okay with that.

I'll do my best to update more frequently, friends! 

Quick Update

A big apology to any loyal blog followers - I'm going to be extremely busy this week and next week as I prepare for the big move to California and wrap up loose ends at work.  I will make it up to you!!

Okay, and I've been slightly obsessed with the Olympics.

Why do I love my job? Let me count the reasons...

Wow!  First of all, thank you to all of those who participated in "What Grinds My Gears."  I loved reading each of the comments and I can definitely relate to many of them.

To follow up that somewhat negative post, I wanted to share something positive and optimistic.  Nobody likes a Negative Nancy! (Side note: I apologize if your name is Nancy, but I do love that saying).

I am blessed to work for the most amazing company ever.  My company is small, but growing!  In the last two months, we've hired four more people!  We specialize in Enterprise Information Management (EIM) strategy and execution.  I have a very small grasp of this field.  Explaining it would take about four more blog posts.  At a conference last month, I made the mistake of saying I was "Just an administrative coordinator" after someone asked me what I do.

What is wrong with this woman? She's asking about stuff that's nobody's business. "What do I do?"... Really, what do I do here? I should've written it down. "Qua" something, uh... qua... quar... quibo, qual...quir-quabity. Quabity assuance! No. No, no, no, no, but I'm getting close.

-Creed, The Office

Apparently, even though I have nothing to do with the consulting aspect, I "take care of absolutely everything."  This includes, but is not limited to:

• Billing/invoicing/expense reimbursement
• Filing
• Coordinating logistics for tradeshows, board meetings, and team working sessions
• New employee on-boarding
• New customer on-boarding
• Write press releases
• Sending annoying emails under the guise of a "gentle reminder"
• and miscellaneous personal assistant tasks for the partner of my company

I really love my job.  Aside from the amazing list of endless benefits (I think I listed them before, but Free Lunch Fridays takes the cake), I truly love the people I work with. I look at them as coworkers, friends, and mentors, and I am so thankful to have such wonderful people to associate with.

• These people are experts in their field, but they never make me feel stupid.  They are always there to explain things when I have questions.
• They are respectful, professional, kind, caring, funny, and make me feel welcome.  I go to them for anything/everything, from advice and guidance to talking trash about sports.
• They genuinely care about my best interests.  When I was on the fence about law school, they made pro/con lists and risk vs. reward.  All of the senior management called me to discuss my options.
• They're normal.  Okay, they are professional sailors and really good golfers, but they have normal lives too.  They might drive Audis and BMWs, but they forward me Group-Ons and coupon codes (for Sperry's and Uggs!)
• They're my friends.  I can tell you each employee's spouse's name, kids' names, kids' sports, favorite sports teams, etc.  They always ask me about my weekend/holiday/vacation plans.  I even email some of the wives about The Bachelorette. 
• They're funny.  They can quote Super Troopers and Friends episodes like its their job.

And I am VERY proud to say -- They asked me to keep working part-time while in law school.  They aren't replacing me!!

What do you love about your job?  Now's your chance to brag!

Or you can complain about how crappy your job is - we've all been there before too!