The other day, I was casually chatting with a family member. She is a financial dunce who repeatedly serves up material for this blog. If you’re a regular reader of You Have More Than You Think, then you already know this particular family member’s name. If you’re not, her name is Larissa, and I will be referring to her as such going forward.

Since I’m a personal finance nutjob, I anxiously await the opportunity to bring up the subject of money in nearly every conversation. Doesn’t matter how inappropriate. If an opportunity doesn’t present itself, I create one. It’s what I do.

So, Larissa and I were talking about eeeeh, something, when I asked her if she had homeowner’s insurance on her paid for home. Her response was a lackadaisical, “Oh, I forgot to renew it.”

My response was, “Are you *expletive* me?!”

Look, this is beyond stupid. Perhaps you were expecting me to drone on about how buying quality goods is frugal. Forget about that cheap watch you got in AnyChinatown, USA that fell apart only days after you bought it. That’s child’s play compared to inadequately insuring your assets.

Your primary residence is one of the most important assets you’ll ever own. If you have a mortgage on your property and you fail to make the payments, you’ll find that the mortgagee (the lender) will pay the homeowner’s insurance for you. Why? Because they know how important it is to protect their asset.

Paying off your mortgage and eliminating the lender’s interest in your property is a wise financial move. However, you must take on the responsibility of making sure your asset is protected at that point.

You’ll likely spend decades paying off your mortgage. Decades! Throughout that time, you’ll probably pay three times the purchase price of the home after factoring in interest. If your home was destroyed while you didn’t have insurance, here are your options:

1. Renting
2. Owning….again
3. Squatting with a loved one
4. Homelessness

For some reason, I find the first two options to be the most offensive. You’ve already paid for your residence once. And you’ve likely done this over many, many years.

I don’t care if you live in Miami, FL and your homeowner’s insurance policy expires on July 15th. If you have to sell your A/C unit to renew your homeowner’s insurance, then so be it. Sweat it out.

Although far more acceptable, going without health insurance and disability insurance is equally stupid. But I’ll save that for another day.

What are some of the dumb strategies you’ve used to save money?