Canadian Personal Finance Blog

Well, it is the time of year when all the HUGE bills appear nearly on top of each other:

• Property tax (one installment in March another in June)
• House Insurance
• Car Insurance
• Income Tax (luckily that gives money back usually)

Thanks to the sky rocketing housing market in Ottawa, my property tax AND my house insurance rates have gone up a great deal (inflation is here, read this for a better explanation).

Insurance rates are something you need to SHOP AROUND. If you are like most folks you can get quotes ON LINE, so DO THAT! I have got quotes from Meloche-Monnex, and PC Financial and found out that my Car Insurance rate from Aviva is actually the lowest (whoda thunk it?). Shopping around is very important in this consumer age. Don’t just SETTLE for what your insurance company tries to RAM down your throats.

Here’s a Plan:

1. Get at least 3 quotes (sometime within 3 months of your renewal date)
2. COMPARE them, make sure you are comparing “apples to apples”
3. You now should have 4 choices, choose the cheapest one that covers your needs

Forget about it until next year after that! No this is not some great and glorious plan, but sometimes the most simple ideas are the best.