Absolutely go with the minimum coverage you can find to be legal. Take the difference between that amount and the amount that you think is reasonable for full coverage, and put it in an investment account that allows emergency withdrawals. Do that with every other insurance you might feel inclined to carry - go with the bare minimum, or none at all if it's not legally/contractually required, and put the money you would be wasting on insurance into a savings account.
Do that until you've got 50k or 75k or however much makes you feel safe, then let it sit there and enjoy never contributing to the evil insurance industry ever again.
Insurance is a scam, people. Buying more insurance than is absolutely necessary is just throwing your money away.
Be careful of this! "wasting money" as a blanket statement is not correct. I don't disagree with the basic premise, and yes the insurance industry is a step removed from racketeering in general but good coverage from a reputable company can save your a$$. Not being smart about your insurance needs is throwing your money away. No , I'm not an ins. salesman.
If you rent, get renters insurance. It's cheap and basically stupid not to. Ask anyone who has had a fire (ask me how I know...). Think you won't have a fire because you're careful, etc... What about the idiot neighbors, or a lightning strike? Same goes for homeowners ins. A friend from work had her apt. burn up thanks to someone violating the ordinance prohibiting grills on apt. decks. She lost everything. We went out on our shift to do some overhaul (it was in our response territory) at that address. She was there meeting her insurance guy. He cut her a $1200 check on the spot to help with getting a new home, etc.
As for auto insurance, what if someone breaks into your car and steals everything inside and you had something important or valuable in there? Comprehensive covers that. What if you have an accident and someone goes to the hospital? Your full coverage insurance covers that too. How about if you cause an accident? Full coverage covers if someone you hit goes to the hospital. I think there is some coverage for legal action if you caused an accident but that depends on policy, carrier, etc. (50 or 75K is nowhere near enough to protect you)
I can sympathize with not being able to afford a lot of coverage. If it's just you by yourself then you could probably do fine that way. If you have a family, a house, etc. then being cheap can cost big time later on. How much do you like to gamble??
Just shop around. I pay 45 a month for full coverage, but I have USAA. If you are a vet (and honorably discharged) you could become a member and get their insurance (they are second to none in all aspects of their company as far as I'm concerned). Or you could join the military and then become a member that way...
