If you are found driving without insurance in Alabama your registration will be suspended until you provide proof of insurance - plus you will have to pay a $100 reinstatement fee on top of that. Rather than let your insurance lapse for financial reasons, let's see what we can do to lower the cost of your insurance to the point where, hopefully, you can afford to drive legally.

Start by paying your premiums automatically from your bank account each month. It's not a huge savings - but every little bit adds up.

If at all possible, park your car in a garage at night rather than leaving it out on the street. Garaging your car at night will save you money on your insurance every single month.

If you are in school, stay there and get good grades. Any driver 25 or younger who remains in school and gets at least a "B" grade average can save a minimum of 5% and possibly more every single month.

Do you use a steering wheel locking device when you park your car? If so, that could save you money every month. Talk to your agent about other inexpensive anti-theft devices which can save you even more.

Driving less can save you more. If you can use public transportation whenever possible and you can get your driving down to less than 500 miles per month you could qualify for a Low Mileage Discount. If you can carpool to work you can save quite a bit on your car insurance. Just let your agent know that you are only driving half as many miles each month in rush hour traffic.

If you are really strapped for money the cheapest possible insurance the state of Alabama lets you buy is a basic liability insurance policy. In Alabama the smallest liability policy you can buy is what is known as a 20/40/10 policy.

This policy pays a maximum of $20,000 for medical expenses to any one person involved in an accident with your vehicle. It pays a maximum of $40,000 for the medical expenses of all persons involved in an accident with your vehicle, regardless of how many people are involved or what the extent of their injuries are. The final "10" refers to the fact that this insurance pays a maximum of $10,000 for property damage suffered by others involved in an accident with your vehicle. A basic liability policy pays nothing whatsoever for the repair of your vehicle, nor does it pay for medical costs for you or for anyone in your vehicle.

What makes this type of policy high risk are the low payouts. It is quite easy for an individual to need more than $20,000 in medical treatments and it is common for the medical costs of an accident to exceed $40,000. And for many cars it doesn't take much more than a scratched fender to run up a repair bill of $10,000.

If the expenses caused by an accident in which you are at fault exceed the amount of your basic liability policy, you could be held personally responsible for paying the difference out of your own resources. This could mean that you would lose your life savings or even be forced to sell your home. Buying your car insurance - whether a high risk basic liability policy or a more full-featured policy - online will also save you money.

In order to see the prices from as many insurance companies as possible it is a good idea to make price comparisons on more than one of the multitude of price comparison websites - but once you've collected all of the prices you've found, just choose the lowest price and you're done!