Increase your car insurance excess to pay more when you have an accident rather than paying more upfront.

Not driving around with car insurance is akin to running a marathon with no training and at 30 kilograms overweight. Bad things are going to happen. In fact if you look up crazy in the dictionary, this definition is probably there.

There are many types of insurance you can take out on yourself. For example, income protection insurance. Believe it or not, you are your greatest asset. In your lifetime, you will earn well in excess of a million dollars. Of course an illness or accident could stop this right in its tracks. If you have no insurance to cover such an event, your life will be hit for six financially. But what if you die and your family are left with one less person to help pay the bills. Saying it won't happen to me is living in la-la land. We have all purchased an invisible ticket in a bad luck lottery. But you really don't want your numbers pulled in this game of chance. If you don't believe me, just look up no insurance cover stories on the internet. There are some truly heartbreaking stories about families who have been turned upside down due to not being able to bring in a regular income:

Income Protection Insurance: What happens if you feel ill tomorrow and have to battle this illness for the next 5 years? Or even hurt your back and couldn't work for 12 weeks. Do you have the money to pay all the expenses, because they will not stop? Income protection insurance is there for when your earning ability stops.

Life Insurance: Most general life insurance policies will pay out your family a lump sum amount of money if you perish. This will allow them to pay out the mortgage, get rid of any debts, and pay all the bills while they are mourning you.

While this is just a general guide, you should always seek professional help when deciding. Once a year you can review your situation to make sure you feel safe regardless of what life throws at you.

Insurance policies are a pain in the neck. The forms on what you are covered/not covered for are long boring documents. However, it's always important you read through these at least once. You might find things you are not covered for which you really need to be. The great thing about reading through these documents is that to change what you are covered for in the future, the insurance companies have to notify you in writing. As they only tinker with these contracts from year to year, the reading after the first year is extremely small.

Finding something you should be covered for, but are not, could save you thousands of dollars in the future.