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Health: "If you don't have health insurance and something happens, you could easily accumulate several hundred thousand dollars in medical debt...and medical bills are the number one cause of bankruptcy! On top of that, if your illness or injury is serious enough, you'll be out of work, which means you will have a huge debt to pay and no money coming in. Insurance is an absolutely vital part of any sound financial plan."

Long Term Disability: You need long term disability insurance. You don't need cancer insurance because you've got your health insurance. You need a health savings account, which is by far the best buy in the health insurance industry. Get liability umbrella coverage for your car or homeowner insurance. Homeowners or Renters: Get homeowners or renters insurance to protect the contents of your home. The higher your deductible, the lower your monthly premium, but be sure you have the money to fund that deductible if you have a loss. On the homeowner's insurance, they do not have guaranteed replacement cost anymore. They don't guarantee to replace your home; they'll give you the cost of your goods plus 25 percent or so.

Life: Never buy any kind of life insurance except for term life insurance. Don't save money for retirement inside life insurance policies because the returns stink. Get level term life insurance to the amount of 8 to 10 times your income. Having insurance is just one more way to protect your family by being prepared for loss, whether it be loss of health, loss of property, or loss of life.

I decided to take Dave's counsel and check with my own insurance providers to make sure I was getting the best value. 1. As self-employed business owners, we have had to pay a hefty amount in health insurance premiums each month. I called AARP and was able to find a plan through Aetna that has the same coverage for about half the price. That alone will save us about $750 per month. We are waiting for that coverage to be approved before we can open the Health Savings Account. 2. We also got some quotes on homeowners insurance and found that the policy we had was the most reasonable one out there. We confirmed that we don't have guaranteed replacement, but have the policy that's cost plus 25 percent. Just like Dave said.

3. I called our universal life insurance company intending to cancel, but I knew that a new term life policy at my age was going to cost more than it would for a 30 year old. We have had our universal life policies since we were in our twenties and after talking to the company, realized that our rate was so low that it would cost us much more to go term. I did learn, however, that we had a cash value on our policy that we could take as a distribution.

4. We switched carriers for our car insurance and are able to save $80 per month while increasing our coverage.

In just spending a couple of hours on the phone, we found a way to save $830 a month on just our car and health insurance. In addition, we are funding our IRA with the disbursement from our life insurance policy. That will allow us to take that IRA deduction on our tax return, which generally saves us another $2,000.

While people are struggling with the economy and worrying about job loss, it's time to tighten our belts and save where we can. Start by evaluating your insurance policies. It doesn't cost you anything to make a few calls and compare. Along the way, you may discover that you don't even have the benefits you thought you did. Better to know now than find out when you're claiming a loss. It's just a good practice to review your policies and make sure you're paying for what you need and nothing more.