"In just 15 minutes...

... you could save 15% or more on your car insurance by switching to Geico."

I hate to have to say it, but forget the little green gecko. I just saved over 50% on my car insurance. How is this possible, you ask?
Well, let's start at the beginning. As a new driver, I was getting killed by my family's insurance provider. On my part, this was caused by a combination of ignorance (tort? as in tortellini? fruit torte?) and the laziness of not wanting to search very hard for other rates (I was, and still occasionally am, terrified to pick up the telephone). For almost 4 years I was content to accept the quote I was given, and somehow managed each year to save the necessary funds to pay it.
This lasted until September of 2008, when I left the country. Seeing as how I would not be able to drive my car in Nicaragua, I ended my policy and let the task of insurance-paying fall to my sister, who is currently learning how to scare others off the roads. ;) I planned on picking the responsibility back up after returning to the States. Well, I returned about two weeks ago and I confess I have been putting off the insurance search until now. However, today I found myself with several free hours in a row, and decided that today would be the day - I would tackle the internet (hey I did say I don't like the phone...) and demand its submission. I would fill out forms, get new quotes, search the reliability of insurance companies that I had never heard of. God help me...
Approximately 2.83 hours of torture and 23 quotes later, I found a number staring me in the face that was much lower than I ever dreamed. Could it be? Oh the anguish I face now - the reality that had I put a little more energy into research back at the beginning of my driving career, had I recognized a premium of $1,100 a year as an insult to a driver of a small 4-door sedan (that is NOT a sports car), perhaps I would not have quite the debt I do now. I could have set aside more money for school. I could have invested in stocks. I could have started a retirement fund, even.
Then again, I probably would have just spent that money if it had been in the bank, so... I guess I owe a thank-you to my old car insurance company. Without them, I would have had more stuff and the same amount of debt. They have wisely kept me from the materialism that plagues the majority of my generation.
And some people say that insurance companies are evil. HA!