Ahhh. Is there anything in life better than a great pair of shoes? Really? The right pair of shoes can do so much for you. It can make you comfortable or confident, sassy or sexy. And nobody does shoes like Dolce & Gabbana (except maybe Gucci, but that's another story…). Since great shoes don't come cheap, it's good to know your homeowners insurance has got your back.

Did you know you could insure your shoes? Believe it or not, if it's in your house and you're willing to pay the premiums on it you can insure just about anything. History tells us of the South Carolina lawyer who took it in his head to insure a $1500 box of Cuban cigars, and of the home insurance company that was only too happy to oblige. Of course, the lawyer then used and abused the privilege by smoking all of his cigars and stating that they were "lost in a series of small fires". He was eventually given jail time for insurance fraud-but you'd never abuse a great pair of shoes like that, right?

There are a lot of things about homeowners insurance that people don't know. The fact that you can insure your designer shoes is only the tip of the iceberg! You should go through your house every year to update the inventory list on your home insurance policy. There's nothing more embarrassing than trying to file a claim after your home has been broken into only to realize that because you didn't list the item in your insurance policy you aren't going to be able to get any compensation from it.

Also, did you know that your homeowners insurance will cover items in your car as well? Your auto insurance won't touch the replacement cost of anything that wasn't actually put into the vehicle by the manufacturer (including your stereo system) but since home insurance companies essentially consider your car to be a moving outbuilding anything left in the car instead of brought in the house is covered under your policy. Just make sure the next time you invest in $1,000 speakers you make sure you tell your insurer about it as soon as possible.

The other piece of good news (for parents of college kids) is that your child's dorm room falls under the same heading as your car, something of a temporary extension of your house. That means that the $1,600 computer and $200 iPod they decided they couldn't live on campus without are going to be protected. With theft coming in as number one on the list of crimes most commonly committed on campus, that's good news-REALLY good news!

So, your homeowners insurance can do a lot more than you think it does. The question is, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to sit back and bask in your newfound knowledge, or are you going to do what you have to do to keep those sweet, sweet sandals, loafers and boots as safe as possible?