Drive Your Dream Blog

Wondering how you can save money on your homeowner’s insurance policy?  According to WellsFargo.com, there are ten things you can do to lower your premiums.

1. Request multiple home insurance quotes.  These days, with free home insurance quotes and online forms, it takes a lot less time to shop around.  Comparing rates can help you save.
2. Tell you insurer about any safety features in your home.  Installing smoke detectors, getting a security system, and having kitchen fire extinguishers can all help reduce your home insurance premiums.
3. Consider the replacement value of our home.  This isn’t the same as you home’s real estate value.  Your real estate value includes the home and the land it’s on.  Your home’s replacement value does not include the land or lot.
4. Know the facts about your home’s construction, since this can affect your insurance premiums.  Is your home made of brick or wood?  Does it have a good drainage system?
5. Protect your home from natural disasters.  If you live in an area with windstorms or hurricanes, install storm shutters, reinforced roofs, and other weather-resistant features.
6. Increase your policy’s deductible.  You can save as much as 25% per year by increasing the deductible on your homeowner’s insurance.
7. Don’t pay on an installment plan.  Many insurers offer monthly payments, but you can save a lot by paying for your insurance in a lump sum.
8. Check your credit report.  If you have poor credit, you may not be getting a good deal on your insurance.  Check your credit report for errors, and work to clean up your credit history.
9. Ask your homeowner’s insurance company about discounts that might apply to you.  Discount home insurance can save you a lot of money, and you may be eligible for a lower rate.
10. Use a single insurance carrier for multiple policies.  As you shop for a new home insurance policy, consider getting a free auto insurance quote.  You can also save on boat insurance, life insurance, health insurance, motorcycle insurance, and other policies.

As you shop for a better deal on insurance, it helps to have all of your information handy.  Gather up the facts about your home and its value, and make sure you note any claims you may have had in the last few years.

Kate Miller-Wilson is a professional freelance writer, who specializes in web content, editing, and technical writing.  She also writes articles about Dallas exotic car dream tours.

Ever dream of driving an exotic car in a custom color?  One Dallas company has the solution.

SkinzWraps, Inc. is a business that specializes in custom wraps for cars and trucks.  About 80% of their business is devoted to commercial vehicles, but they also do wraps for boats, trailers, RVs, pick-up trucks, and other private vehicles.

One of SkinzWraps’ specialties is custom wraps for exotic cars like Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Porsches.  At about $3,000 to $4,500, these wraps are more affordable than a full custom paint job.

“Five years ago, we weren’t even thinking about this kind of work,” said SkinzWraps CEO, Peter C. Salaverry. “But I think the auto industry is primed for it.”

One of the big advantages of SkinzWraps is that they allow owners to give their cars a custom appearance without the commitment that comes with an eye-catching paint job.  This flexibility can be important when it’s time to resell the car.

SkinzWraps are similar to wallpaper for your vehicle.  An adhesive-backed, thin vinyl sheet is applied to the vehicle and then smoothed out by hand using sqeegees.  Blowtorches are used to stretch the materials over the car, and SkinzWraps guarantees that the car’s paint remains undamaged.

In addition to changing the appearance of an exotic car, SkinzWraps can actually help enhance performance by improving the car’s aerodynamics.  This can lead to a higher top speed and better gas mileage.

SkinzWraps now counts many exotic car owners among its clients, including customers of Dallas exotic car dealers like Boardwalk Ferrari and Boardwalk Lamborghini.  The wraps can help protect the paint job on these exotic vehicles.

“What we’re trying to do is find certain pockets of cars that would embrace this sort of individualized work,” Salaverry said. “We want to earn our credentials on the most expensive, most demanding cars.”

SkinzWraps is located in a 21,000-square foot facility in Dallas.  The company employs 20 people at its central office, but it also has additional facilities in California, Florida, New York, and North Carolina.

“Now that we can show it can be done, we are pushing it,” said Salaverry. who hopes to wrap a Ferrari Enzo later this year.  Enzos typically sell for around $700,000.

“It’s never been done before,” he said. “I’m talking to a few collectors to see if anyone might be interested in letting us do their Enzo. It sounds crazy, but if we don’t push to new frontiers, we are confined by what we did in the past.”

If driving one of these exotic beasts butters your biscuit. Why not enter to win a free exotic car driving tour from http://www.get-insurance-quote.net. No insurance quote request is necessary to enter.l

Kate Miller-Wilson is a professional freelance writer, who specializes in web content, editing, and technical writing. Kate’s recent projects include content for a Tampa SAT tutoring website and for a Fort Worth commercial real estate company website.

Whether you drive an exotic car or a hybrid, there’s no denying that gas is expensive.

In fact, the Energy Information Administration’s 2010 Short-Term Energy and Summer Fuels Outlook predicts that the national average price for regular unleaded will be $2.79 per gallon throughout the summer.

Even exotic cars are now being designed with an eye toward reducing fuel consumption, and there are a lot of things drivers can do to improve their fuel economy right now.

According to a recent Forbes.com article, you can see major fuel savings by paying attention to the following factors:

• Smooth driving can add up to 33% to your fuel economy on the highway and 5% in the city.  To smooth things out a bit, try to avoid sudden braking and accelerating.
• Keep an eye on the speed.  Going the speed limit can improve your fuel economy by as much as 23%.  If you have a love of speed, try to keep it under 60 miles per hour.  For many cars, anything over that reduces the efficiency of your engine.
• Use the right oil. Even though the fuel consumption savings is only about 2%, using the right engine oil can also make a difference in you fuel economy.  Pay attention to what the manufacturer recommends, and use motor oil with a label that says, “Energy Conserving.”
• Check your tire pressure.  In addition to making your tires last longer and your car handle better, properly inflated tires can provide a significant improvement in fuel economy.  Expect to get about 0.3% fuel consumption improvement for a single PSI reduction for all four tires.
• Keep the engine small.  This is hard advice to take if you love to drive fast, but smaller engines typically get much better gas mileage than a V6 or V8.  You can see a fuel economy improvement of up to 20% by changing to a 4-cylnder.

Also, it’s important to keep in mind that fuel economy is only one part of the cost of owning a car.  In addition to improving your gas mileage, it’s a good idea to save on car insurance by getting a Watauga Insurance Quote. (You can enter to win a free drive your dream exotic car experience and no insurance quote is required.)

Regardless of which changes you make to improve your gas mileage, you can rest assured that you’re doing something to keep a little extra green in your environment and your pocketbook too!

Kate Miller-Wilson is a professional freelance writer, who specializes in web content, editing, and technical writing. Kate’s recent writing projects include content for a website for a Fort Worth business consultant and for a Dallas car storage company.