Accounting and Tax Basics for Small Business Owners

Welcome to my blog! My name is Katrina, and a few years ago, I opened my own business. Unfortunately, due to really innocent errors on my part, I ended up with a huge tax bill – it was so unwieldy I had to shutter my business. However, I learned a lot from that experience. I took classes and read as many books as I could find on accounting and finances, and I spent a lot of time reading info from the taxation office's website. As a result of that diligence, I was able to open another business, and I take care of the accounting on my own practically perfectly. If you own a small business or are thinking about opening one, this blog is for you. Please explore and learn.

Tips & Cautions on How to Save Money on Car Insurance

Finance & Money Blog

Car insurance is often a legal necessity in many areas, but it can be very expensive. While car owners can often employ certain tricks for saving money on their insurance, there are also some cautions to observe with all these methods of cutting costs. Note a few tips and cautions for saving money on your car insurance.

1. Raise the deductibles

Your deductible is the amount of money you need to pay in case of an accident, before your insurance coverage then kicks in and pays the rest. Typically, the higher the deductible you choose, the lower your monthly premiums. Raising your deductible so that you take on more financial costs in case of an accident in order to lower your premiums is a good way to save money on your insurance.

However, you need to be careful in this regard. Here's an example: if you raise your deductible by $1000 in order to save $25 every month and then got in an accident, you would need to pay your insurance for 40 months or more than three years before your monthly savings made up for this expense. Don't take the risk of raising your deductible by too much, especially if your savings is nominal, as you may not save money at all if you're ever in a costly accident.

2. Bundle your insurance

You can often save on car insurance by purchasing other types of insurance along with your auto insurance. This can include renter's insurance, homeowner's insurance, supplemental health insurance, and the like. Before you decide to bundle insurance or purchase additional types of insurance just to save on car insurance, be sure you do your math.

If you pay more for homeowner's insurance with your auto insurance provider than you would with another company, you may not be saving money at all. If you don't need renter's insurance or supplemental health insurance, you may be taking on unnecessary expenses that mean you're not really saving money overall.

3. Eliminate certain types of coverage

One way to save on auto insurance is to forego theft or vandalism insurance. For a very old car, you may be able to forego theft insurance, but here you also want to make the decision carefully. How much will you save every month versus the cost of replacing your car if it were to be stolen, or if you had to repair vandalism? Having these types of insurance coverage can be worth the expense if it's much cheaper than having to pay for these out of your own pocket, so use caution before deciding you simply don't need this type of coverage.

Learn more about your car insurance options by consulting resources like North Coast Financial Services.

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26 May 2015