How I paid 57 cents for my car insurance this month

How I saved money with Metromile

I'm sure you are wondering how I only paid 57 cents this month for my car insurance. After I realized my savings I knew I had to share with everyone. Being a work from home mom I have found that I leave the house less than I used to. I probably go shopping once a week and run errands when needed. For the first 3 months working from home I found I saved a lot of money by purchasing less gas. I knew I needed to find more ways to save, so I looked at my car insurance options.

At the time, I was paying $60 a month for the state minimum liability with no tickets or accidents. After doing some research online, I found there is a pay-per-mile car insurance company now. I immediately jumped at the opportunity to switch my insurance, however the company I was with charged a early term penalty. I stuck it out, and instantly cancelled when I received my renewal in the mail. Not only was I refunded for the last month, I paid less than half the refund amount for the new premium with the new company Metromile, putting cash back in my pocket.

This last month I drove a total of 41 miles for the WHOLE month. Sad, I know haha, however saving for a house means spending less, which I love to do anyway. I'm not saying everyone is going to see a savings switching to this type of insurance. If you drive a lot, this insurance type my not work in your favor, but actually costing more. I will explain how this works.

• Your first look at an estimate will show a base pay + (cents)per mile.
• This all depends on your driving record, credit, and type of coverage. They offer pretty much all coverage options that any normal insurance company would cover.
• Example: I have state minimum liability and my base pay is $20.10 a month. I pay 2.1 cents per mile. So last month I drove 41 miles, my statement is for $20.77. (I am not exactly sure how they calculate this, however this amount is from my statement.)
• This is only available in select states, however do not be afraid to check them out. The more people that ask for this type of insurance in other states, the more likely they will expand.

The advantages of a pay-per-mile insurance

• If you drive less than 10,000 miles a year, than this is an option to consider. You can save as much as $500 a year.
• Once signed up, you receive a free OBD-II device that you plug in to monitor your milage only.
• You have the option to turn on GPS for detailed information on the location of your vehicle and where it traveled. I have heard you can use the mobile app to locate your vehicle in parking lots, however I do not own a smartphone and will update info if I can try this.
• You do not pay for your car to just sit there. Especially good for low risk drivers.
• Being a customer, I feel like this insurance company is rewarding me for being a good driver just for how cheap the insurance is.
• Customer service is kind and courteous. I never had to call them, they called me about a month after purchasing a policy to provide feedback on their company so far. It's understandable, they are fairly new and feedback is what helps a company get better.
• You can get vehicle diagnostics using their app. Again I haven't tried this, however they do offer this option if you mange your policy on the app.
• If you drive over 150 miles in one day, you do not get charged anything over the 150 miles.
  

Disadvantages of a pay-per-mile insurance

• If you drive over 10,000 miles a year, depending on which coverage options, you may pay more. It still wouldn't hurt to check them out and get an estimate to see if there are any savings.

How I only paid 57 cents

Since I do not drive a lot, I do most of my shopping online. I became a member ofEbates right before Christmas shopping last year. Ebates is a cash back company that gives you cash back just for shopping online.

There are tons of stores to choose from, and each with their own cash back amount. They only payout 4 times a year, so my last payment was a surprise! My cash back amount was for $20.20 which I acquired from Christmas shopping for the kids. The payment went to my paypal account right before my Metromile automatic payment hit, so paypal only charged my bank account 57 cents.

I know what you're thinking, what's the big deal right?

For some, most money goes to priorities, with little left over. The more money you can save on your necessities means more money for everything else. It may not pay off right away, and if that's what you need I have other suggestions. This gave me a savings of over $40 a month. If I continue with this insurance, I will save $480 a year. To me this is a win and I continue everyday to find ways to make extra cash and save on my bills and life needs.

Check out this invoice!

Other ways to make cash

I have a lot of free time during the day because I work nights and both kids are in school. I take an average of 1-3 hours of my time and try to take surveys. I am signed up for several different companies and I do have an article that explains why. Some days I have a lot, some days I only have one or two, which is why the big time difference above.

I have been able to participate in product testing surveys, where product is mailed to me, I test and take a survey on the product usage, quality, etc. The ones I have done I have not had to send the product back. It may not be the case every time, however the company paid for the shipping the product to me.

Today alone I made $16 by filling out surveys. I cannot cash out yet, since it is split up between all the sites, however I do so many surveys I pretty much cash out every other day on at least one of the sites. Payment options include Paypal and Amazon e-gift cards, just to name a couple.

Everything I buy on Amazon.com is basically used with a gift card from doing surveys. I am a Prime member, so once every other month I order a prime pantry box worth about $60 for all household goods to last 2 months. Being a member you get free 2-day shipping and Prime video! Why not use this as a means of payment? In January alone I made almost $150 in Amazon gift cards purchasing everything we need like auto parts, home goods, replacement items and things for our current renovation.

This is money I did not have to spend out of pocket! I treat survey taking like a job, so it might not seem like a lot of money, but it's more money than I had before trying it for way less time than my full-time job.

I try to save money any way that I can. With student loans soon to be due, and trying to save for a house I know I am going to need the extra savings in my future. I found that saving now, will help for a better, more comfortable future and I hope to share my savings with you. If you have any questions, or would like more savings tips, please comment below and I can help out!