The easiest way to get cheap insurance is simply to comparison shop, because even among the major insurance providers, there are huge differences in premiums - for the SAME applicant.

Some online companies even provide this service for free; one such company owns a series of websites for Nevada Insurance Quotes, Alaska Insurance Quotes, etc., with a national address of www.nationalquickquotes.com. After entering your personal information, it queries the major insurance providers to let you compare premiums on insurance policies.

Beyond comparison shopping, here are a few ways that you can chop dollars off of your car, homeowner, or renters insurance premiums:

Additional car insurance coverages (gap, uninsured motorist protection, etc.) bump your premium significantly. While you have to have liability, and if you have a car loan, collision coverage, some of these extras might be expendable. For example, Medical/Personal Injury Protection, may not be needed if you have strong health insurance coverage. Additionally, gap coverage is only useful if you are upside-down on your car (you owe more than it's worth).

Drivers with other forms of roadside protection (such as AAA, or dealer roadside protection, etc.) don't need towing/roadside assistance coverage; and the list goes on, but the idea is to grill your insurance agent on what exactly these additional coverages are, and whether you need them.

With homeowner or renters insurance, you should take a close look at exactly what personal property of yours is actually valuable monetarily. Remember that you'll have a hefty deductible (usually $500-1,000), so ask yourself whether there's much in your house or apartment that would still be worth insuring if you had to pay for the first $500 or $1,000 of its replacement cost. Unless you own a $10,000 grand piano, it may not be cost effective to insure your personal property.

There are a lot of types of insurance out there, and while some are absolutely necessary, others may be expendable, depending on your situation. Ask some hard questions of yourself and your insurance agent, and decide exactly what you need and what you don't.