Oh, New Years. A time of new beginnings. New odds. And a whole new opportunity to commit to changing your life! This New Year, resolve to save money on your auto insurance.

Statistics show that when you start talking about the top ten New Year’s resolutions, saving money on car insurance is nowhere to be found! People decide to spend more time with family and friends (instead of spending half their lives at work), make time to exercise, lose weight, quit smoking, stop stressing, stop drinking, pay off debt (You’ll notice that reducing your credit cards are usually not there!), learning something new, and helping others. What they don’t do is decide to save money on their insurance, and it’s the easiest resolution they could possibly make!

The first step you need to take to save money on your insurance is to correct the way you drive. If you’re a speed demon on the highways, have the unfortunate tendency to crash into rear bumpers during rush hour, or like to crash into a couple of cars and then hit the freeways too much, you’re already in a bad position to get a good deal with your car insurance. Clean up your driving habits like you’re back in driver’s education and your gigantic instructor was going to fail you for speeding five times! Five years of this and you’ll get 20% or more off your premiums without lifting a finger.

In the spirit of improving your driving habits, when I was the last time you took a driver improvement course? They offer these simple classes in almost every county, and it’s a great way to add positive points to your driver’s license without spending a lot of money to build your car’s security system (which we’ll talk about in a minute). Just volunteer, spend a day with a group of adults who are more than willing to make fun of the ridiculous movies you have to watch, and hit the road as the new, improved, and more responsible you!

Speaking of security systems, did you know that car alarms, GPS tracking devices, and fuel switches can do wonders to help you save on auto insurance? It costs a lot more to replace a car after it’s been ripped off than it does to repair a dented and damaged bumper, which means anything you can do to make it less attractive to the criminal element is a good thing. Tell your agent his car is safer than Ft. Knox, and you’ll see the numbers spiral down in front of his eyes.

How is your credit? It’s a shame we’re judged by a three-digit number that does nothing to reflect the circumstances of our lives, but there you have it. If your credit isn’t up to par, you’ll have a hard time convincing your agent that you’re a responsible citizen. If you can become a model driver across the board, you’ll be able to save 20% or more on your auto insurance rates without having to think twice.

If you can’t, you’ll spend the rest of your life paying too much for your insurance. It completely depends on you.