Save364 Blog

It seems like every auto insurance company from Allstate to Nationwide has the same pitch. Here are few examples that might sound familiar. People that switch from Geico to Allstate saved an average of $473 on average. Switch to Nationwide Insurance and you could save up to $523. Save an average of $451 at Esurance.

It seems like only a couple of years ago that Geico owned the market with the slogan, 15 minutes can save you 15% or more?. That pitch sure seems out of date now. By next year if these companies keep it up we could save up to $1,000 on our auto insurance. There is one problem, I just checked what I am currently paying for my policy and it’s only $375 a year for two vehicles. Maybe Nationwide could send me a check for the difference.

If you purchase insurance by relying on the statements you may be disappointed with your actual savings. Most of these companies make these sensational statements just to get you to compare coverage. Will you save up $523 a year, I doubt it.

If you are shopping for auto insurance and have considered 21st Century take a second look. Have you noticed how similar 21st Century Insurance commercials are to the AIG auto insurance commercials? As it turns out 21st Century is owned by AIG. It appears that AIG’s new strategy is to sell insurance through their subsidiaries and keep their name out of the headlines.

In September 2007, AIG, which owned 62% of 21st Century, bought the remainder for $813 million. Since AIG no longer promotes their insurance products directly they have turned to their wholly owned subsidiaries to get you to buy their insurance products. Sounds a little suspect to me. I am not sure I would want to own an insurance policy from a company that most likely will fail or be sold off in the next few years. Before you buy insurance, just like anything else, do a background check to make sure who you are dealing with. AIG has dozens of affiliates that operate under different brand names. Beware!

With the recent economic crisis many people are going online looking for ways to save money. Insurance savings is one of the most popular search terms entered in Google. Now may be the time consider building your own insurance website to earn extra revenue.

Insurance affiliate programs pay some of the highest commissions online. By creating a new website and adding several affiliates on your homepage you can start to earn revenue in short order. We chose three affiliate programs to highlight on our site at Save364.com. The affiliates we chose were Surehits, Google and Insureme. These affiliate programs compliment each other and target different types of visitors.

Once you have your new website done you will need to generate traffic. Since you can earn as much as $4.00 per click in your PPC (pay per click) affiliate programs you will not need to generate as much traffic as other affiliate websites. To generate traffic we attached a blog to our website and wrote numerous articles about insurance. Blogs are an excellent way to generate traffic and earn revenue. To earn several thousand dollars a month you will need to generate about 50 to 100 visitors a day. Consumers are looking for savings. An Insurance based website is a great way to help consumers and earn extra income.

If you have been shopping for insurance lately you will notice that most of the large auto insurance carriers including, Allstate, Farmers and The General, are encouraging you to buy direct. In fact, they offer you the ability to go online to purchase your policy right from their website. Purchasing insurance from their website bypasses their agents and in theory offers you a lower rate. If cost is your main concern, then you should purchase your auto insurance this way. To compare direct rates visit this link,

It is important to note that when you file a claim insurance agents do not generally get involved in the process. Direct or captive insurance agents are important for determining your policy requirements or policy questions, renewals, and claim advice for the company that they are employed by. Independent insurance agents are valuable for comparing rates and coverage from the numerous companies that they represent.

Most people are concerned about price and coverage. If you are confident about the coverage you need, then I would recommend going direct. If you’re not confident and don’t want to risk the wrong coverage, then seek the advice of a qualified independent agent.

Should we buy our life insurance policies with confidence from AIG (American Insurance Group)? AIG is currently being kept alive by a government lifeline. The magnitude of their failure is unprecedented in US history. To date they have borrowed over 150 billion dollars from taxpayers. If you’re an AIG stockholder you have watched your stock value plummet. The current stock price is hovering around $1.50 a share, down from $57.00 just a year ago.

To compare insurance rates from local providers visit this link,

Life insurance providers are suppose to instill confidence. People buy policies from them because they believe that they are in business for the long run. That perception has now been shattered and is not likely to recover anytime soon. If you watched the AIG executives testify before congress in October you would have been in disbelief that these guys are handling your future.

Last year AIG ran an advertising campaign on television promoting their life insurance business. In September when their financial crisis was made public they stopped showing the commercials. Several months later the same commercial started airing again. Curiously, the commercial was being advertised by Matrix Direct instead of AIG. It was the exact same commercial just a different company. I did a quick check and found out the Matrix Direct is owned by AIG. To save the confusion they could have made a new commercial. They just needed to allocate the money from their latest corporate retreat to create the new ad.

Economic crisis or not, I don’t feel comfortable with companies that don’t deserve or can’t earn our trust.

It seems like every CD or DVD that I own is scratched or damaged. Over the last 10 years the CD format has become the industry standard for storing all types of data, music, multi-media consumer products. Here’s the problem, CD’s and DVD’s are easily damaged causing the loss of valuable data. Just by removing CD’s from their case my son has scratched several of his $60 Xbox 360 games. And, if you can’t repair the scratches yourself you’re out of luck. Retailers will not take back used CD’s.

CD’s are fragile and need to be protected. If you’re like me, you have thousands of dollars invested in this storage medium, not to mention irreplaceable data. CD’s are generally damaged when they are improperly removed from the case. Jewel cases are made of plastic and when CD’s are removed they can easily be scratched. In addition, the CD surface is full of contaminants like dust and oils that cause reading errors. Case manufacturers has done a terrible job of providing safe storage. You would think that such valuable data would be worthy of better protection.

I have a 20 year history in designing computer accessories for companies like Apple, Epson and IBM. I decided to take a look at CD protection products to either improve on or create a better solution. I was surprised to see how little innovation has taken place in this category. After a couple of weeks of examining the issue I have come up with a CD protection product that should help eliminate the problem of scratched media.

By placing a special non-scratch Ultrasuede microfiber material with dual cleaning bars inside the jewel case the CD will now rest on the ultimate soft protected surface. To clean the CD all you need to do is rotate the CD within the case. As the CD rotates over the soft surface and the cleaning bar it will remove dust and particulates. Each time you remove your CD it will be safe from scratches, clean and ready for use. This will significantly increase the life of your CD.

This product consists of CD Ultrasuede adhesive backed liner and new jewel case. Cost per case is $1.29. If your interested in purchasing some send me an Email .

What are the hottest new sport cars entries for 2009? Even in a bad economy the best and most expensive sports cars still seem to sell. Below are a few of the best offerings for 2009.

Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione - Estimated Price: $275,000 - Speed 0-60 mph in 4.2 seconds speeds up to 180 mph. Also offered in a convertible conversion (8C Competizione Spider). This is Alfa Romeo’s first offering since 1992. Wow, where do I sign-up for a test drive. The stylish body features carbon-fiber panels and is powered by a Maserati4.7-liter V8 engine with 450 hp. Where do I sign-up for a test drive?

Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport - Bargain price of only $2M - Speed 0-60 in 2.5 seconds, top speed 250 mph. For only $500,000 more than the base model ($1.5M) you can now own the Grand Sport. The Grand Sport offers a removable transparent polycarbonate roof panel. Buggatti plans to offer only 50 of these a year. Hurry and get one before their all gone!

Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 - Base Price $102,450 - Speed 0-60 in 3.4 seconds with a top speed of 205 mph utilizing a supercharged 638-horsepower V8 engine. I’ll be right home honey! This is the first corvette to cost over 100K. But, if you appreciate performance this baby is worth every penny. carbon fiber body panels, adjustable shocks and heat dissipating pads this Vette is the ultimate street machine.

Ferrari California - MSRP $189,000 - 0-60 in 4.0 seconds with a top speed of 235 mph produced from a 460 hp 4.3 liter V8 engine with a 7 speed transmission. This is the first Ferrari to feature a retractable metal convertible top, toupee’s not recommended . This Italian beauty is even better looking than Gina Lollobrigida.

California was one of the last state’s to pass cell phone laws which prohibit drivers from talking on hand held cell phones while driving. This law was enacted in 2007 but only enforced for the last 6 months. Well, as interested observer I am here to tell you that no one is obeying this new law. As a result, traffic accidents continue to be caused by reckless drivers intentionally breaking the law. If I can drive down the road and see dozens of people talking on their cell phones, why can’t the police? The reason the law was passed was to protect innocent people being killed or maimed as result of careless drivers more interested in talking than driving.

The other day I dropped off my six year old daughter at school. Every couple of days a police car will drive by the school to monitor traffic. As I walked across the intersection, I noticed one of the other parents driving away from the school while talking on their cell phone. The shocking part of this story is that she was directly behind the police car. She didn’t seem to care, so I walked up to her window and said “why are you on your cell phone”? Of course she ignored me and drove off. The police car didn’t pay any attention and drove off as well. So much for law enforcement.

I have read and heard numerous stories about small children who have been killed by distracted drivers. I was relieved when the law passed and felt like the problem would be fixed. Now, I am more upset than ever. These drivers know they are breaking the law and they don’t care. As a result, more innocent victims will have to suffer.

I decided to make a statement and went over to my local printer and had these bumper stickers made (see picture). I know I am making a small difference when the car behind me reads my sticker and hangs up their phone. One car at a time is the best I can do.

The stickers cost me $3.25 each. I you would like to buy one send me an email and I will send one you one. It would be nice to get the word out everywhere.

Have you ever gone to your local UPS store or Fedex/Kinko’s store to send your package by overnight mail. This can truly be a shocking experience. Yesterday I needed to overnight an insurance payment from San Diego to Cleveland. My first stop was Fedex since it was the closest location. I placed the check in a standard overnight envelope and did not request an early morning delivery time. I handed the envelope to the person at the counter and after about a minute he said the cost would be $43. I didn’t want to overreact so I just asked for my package back.

This must have been a mistake, so I thought I would walk down the block to the UPS store and send my package there. After filling out their shipping form, I walked up and handed them my overnight envelope. I waited about another minute and was quoted $47. Now I realized that I was making the mistake. How could these companies demand so much money for such a small envelope? Does it really cost them that much to ship a two ounce envelope?

Desperate to get my package sent and running out of time, I tried one last place, my local post office. I am not a big fan of the post office since there always seems to be a line. Now I know why. After filling out the form one last time and waiting about 5 minutes to get to the counter, I was greeted by a grumpy postal employee. I handed her my package and about a minute later she said the package will arrive by 12:00 p.m. tomorrow and the cost will be $17.00. I was so excited I said “Sold”.

In the future I will be more than happy to wait a couple of extra minutes in the post office line to avoid being ripped-off.

Times are tough and people have no choice but to cutback on all their expenses including insurance. Reducing your auto insurance cost can be risky but if you have no other choice then consider carrying the minimum coverage as required by the state you live in. If you need to find a low cost car insurance carrier start here, Cheap Auto Insurance Quote.

All states require that you carry bodily injury and property damage coverage. As an example I live in California and the minimum coverages for auto insurance are 15/30/5. This means the maximum my auto insurance will pay is $15,000 for each person injured, and a maximum of up to 30,000 paid per accident. The last number, $5,000 would be the maximum paid for property damage as a result of an accident.

Most likely, you are paying for additional coverage that was recommended by your insurance agent or insurance provider. While these additional coverages may provide you with maximum protection, they are also costing you up to several hundred dollars more per month. If you reduce your coverage to the state limits you may only pay a fraction of your current cost. If you get into an accident carrying only the state limits may not provide you with adequate protection. Reducing your auto insurance to the minimum coverage is only recommended as a last alternative. If your financial situation improves you can always increase your coverage later.