Times are hard all around, and you’re probably wishing you had some ways to save on regular expenses like auto insurance. The good news is that there are in fact a lot of ways to save on a car insurance policy, if you’re just willing to look for those ways and utilize them. With just a little effort on your part you could be paying less every month. What’s not to like about that?

For instance, you could shop online instead of at a brick and mortar insurance company. The insurance business has tried hard to keep up with the advances of the internet, and use all sorts of online-only bargains to get people to choose them. It’s more convenient for everyone involved, and you’ll be amazed at how easy it is to get free quotes from different companies if you haven’t tried shopping for policies online before. In a noteworthy break from many other industries, they’ll even encourage you to directly compare and contrast quotes, and provide tools to facilitate this, so you can be sure of getting the best deal.

The savings don’t stop there, though. There’s a lot of other factors at work you can use to hold on to more of your cash.

One of the biggest things to consider is the kind of car you’re driving. If you’re in the market for a new vehicle, remember that high-risk vehicles are more expensive to get insurance for. Large, sporty cars with beefy engines and lots of style are considered high-risk. Consider taking a hit to your car aesthetics by getting a smaller, subtle, unremarkable car that is less likely to be hit by theft or vandalism.

Other things you should consider are your age and gender. It might make you feel a little resentful to realize that fall into a high-risk and therefore pricier insurance group, but remember, insurance companies are just working by statistics. It’s nothing personal to them! Younger drivers will typically have more expensive insurance. If you fall into that category, you might want to consider hunting down a company specialized in servicing younger drivers. Usually those companies will offer deals to make the expense a little less hard to bear. This is especially true if you’ve shown your willingness to be a safe driver by taking advanced lessons in driving.

So, having addressed age, let’s talk about gender. Women are statistically safer drivers than men. Because of this, they can get deals that men can’t from sites that cater to them in particular.

You can further prove your trustworthiness as a driver by installing additional safety and security measures for your vehicle. That shows the company that you’re doing your best to keep your car safe, and they’ll likely cheapen your insurance in return.

Of course, you should know that you want a nice, clean driving record with not a speeding ticket to taint it. It takes time to build that kind of record, though. Driving lessons will help speed the process up a bit if you’re impatient.

So, there we have it. Those are the main ways you can save on car insurance. As a final reminder, always be sure to fully read and understand the coverage your policy includes. There’s no point in saving if the insurance isn’t there to take care of you when you need it, after all. Safety first, savings second. You’ll find that you won’t need to compromise either one with a good insurance company, anyway.