Tightening Our Belts

Am I the only one watching our dollar becoming worth less and less? It's terrifying. I remember how much further our dollar used to stretch, but I never really impounded it in my head until gas prices started seriously going up and we had to search for a new car for TD. When I realized that switching out his truck would save us over $100 a month, I couldn't believe it. How ridiculous.
We have been with a major car insurance company since we got married. I have had it since I started driving. My dad works for it and TD started when he graduated from college. When we bought the Honda this spring, I just didn't want to call and add it to our policy. I figured if I had to go through all of that, I would do some shopping. We ended up with Geico. We added the Honda and still save $28 a month!! With adding a car. I didn't bother moving our homeowners because I have heard it's really hard to insure your house down here and TD's company doesn't even write new policies down here, but since we had them in Oregon, they let us continue to be insured by then.
I got our new home owner's policy today and there was a $523 rate increase!!! We have never made a claim, not even dealing with Ike and now this? How ridiculous is that? Then, I got looking at the policy and they said we didn't have a fire department within 10-15 miles of our house....it really pays to check those sort of things. They give you a surcharge for that. I told TD I wanted a refund. I called our agent and she said she was going to have to call corporate to figure it out. That doesn't bode well.
So, I went shopping again. I also went back to Geico to discuss our recent bill and found a way to save more money. Did you know you can take defensive driving courses online and it can reduce your premiums up to 10%? I did not and you can be sure that TD and Moe will follow in my footsteps here shortly, by taking the course. It's 6 hours and $20. Totally worth it.
It just seems like with the way things are going, it can really pay to shop around for various things. Next to go? Our Comcast bundle...I have a feeling, I will be shopping soon. Not to mention, our neighbors with satellite got their cable back when they got their power back.