i_dont_know
New member
hello hello hello, so let's cut to the chase. i am a 22 y/o female who is also a new driver. my auto insurance w/ geico ($260/mo, includes minimum comp+collision for my lender, minimum bodily injury/property dmg coverage) legitimately doubled when i switched vehicles from my 2013 chevy cruze that was pretty much a lemon car to a 2016 kia soul that i bought for the low price to mileage ratio.
why did i not get my license when i was younger, you ask? i have disabled parents who receive disability, aka having no money ever. they could not afford insurance for me when i was 16 and got my permit. as for why i didn't just get a job like every other kid my age? again, my parents are disabled on SSI; this means that they are only permitted $2000 in assets at any given time and the monthly income for the entire household is extremely limited to poverty income or else they no longer allow you to receive disability. it's insane, i know. i had to work on-campus for years to save up for a car, then bought my chevy from a private individual (I LEARNED MY MISTAKE) which turned out to be a piece of shit. i got 2 pharmacy tech jobs out of town and now commute to both of them and am car-reliant. i'm also a college student, so i take a brief commute to my school as well.
because i'm a college student graduating in a couple weeks, i am only part time for this moment. i make around ~$1k biweekly, so 2 grand a month. it's just a bit crazy to me that my car insurance is MORE than my car payment of $160/mo, and its a bit over 13% of my income. plus, i have things like rent, utilities, so on on top of that. after 6 months, i'll have student loans as well.
when school ends, i'm going full time so that i can move closer to my parents in the fall once my lease ends and get a new job at a new hospital with more benefits. that brings me to about $2848 after taxes per month, maybe more if i take on more shifts. my partner is also moving in with me, supplementing the bills with their own income. so i can afford it objectively, but not comfortably.
this $260-270 (yes... its going up next policy renewal, again i have nothing on my driving record) just feels like... a lot. and enrolling in those "drive safe programs" has me skeptical because if you do something wrong or have to do abrupt stops/maneuvers because of bad NC drivers around you, then your rate in turn may be raised to reflect "bad" driving. plus, again, new driver and i still don't trust myself to parallel park half the time, let alone make an "A" on those things to lower my rate.
does this rate sound normal or acceptable for someone with a clean driving record approaching 1 year of licensure in a week or so? is there anything i can do to help myself a bit so that i have more leeway with my finances, especially during this part-time period? any suggestions would be helpful. my parents are not very reliable in terms of financial advice.
also... yeah, i'm aware of the kia soul issues with theft. i found out after i bought the car. i thought my rates would increase, but not literally double what i was paying for my 2013 chevy cruze that caught fire multiple times.
why did i not get my license when i was younger, you ask? i have disabled parents who receive disability, aka having no money ever. they could not afford insurance for me when i was 16 and got my permit. as for why i didn't just get a job like every other kid my age? again, my parents are disabled on SSI; this means that they are only permitted $2000 in assets at any given time and the monthly income for the entire household is extremely limited to poverty income or else they no longer allow you to receive disability. it's insane, i know. i had to work on-campus for years to save up for a car, then bought my chevy from a private individual (I LEARNED MY MISTAKE) which turned out to be a piece of shit. i got 2 pharmacy tech jobs out of town and now commute to both of them and am car-reliant. i'm also a college student, so i take a brief commute to my school as well.
because i'm a college student graduating in a couple weeks, i am only part time for this moment. i make around ~$1k biweekly, so 2 grand a month. it's just a bit crazy to me that my car insurance is MORE than my car payment of $160/mo, and its a bit over 13% of my income. plus, i have things like rent, utilities, so on on top of that. after 6 months, i'll have student loans as well.
when school ends, i'm going full time so that i can move closer to my parents in the fall once my lease ends and get a new job at a new hospital with more benefits. that brings me to about $2848 after taxes per month, maybe more if i take on more shifts. my partner is also moving in with me, supplementing the bills with their own income. so i can afford it objectively, but not comfortably.
this $260-270 (yes... its going up next policy renewal, again i have nothing on my driving record) just feels like... a lot. and enrolling in those "drive safe programs" has me skeptical because if you do something wrong or have to do abrupt stops/maneuvers because of bad NC drivers around you, then your rate in turn may be raised to reflect "bad" driving. plus, again, new driver and i still don't trust myself to parallel park half the time, let alone make an "A" on those things to lower my rate.
does this rate sound normal or acceptable for someone with a clean driving record approaching 1 year of licensure in a week or so? is there anything i can do to help myself a bit so that i have more leeway with my finances, especially during this part-time period? any suggestions would be helpful. my parents are not very reliable in terms of financial advice.
also... yeah, i'm aware of the kia soul issues with theft. i found out after i bought the car. i thought my rates would increase, but not literally double what i was paying for my 2013 chevy cruze that caught fire multiple times.