Even though you need and want homeowner's insurance that doesn't mean that you want to pay any more for your protection each month than you have to, and that's why thousands of homeowners are searching high and low for ways to save money and get discount homeowner's insurance in Florida.

Fortunately there are several things you can do that can cut your monthly homeowner's payment down to size.

Start with your credit. That's right ? your credit score helps to determine how much you pay each month for your homeowner's insurance. The higher your score ? the lower your monthly homeowner's insurance premium.

Do you have other insurance policies, such as auto or health with the same insurance company? If so you should be getting a Multi-Policy Discount.

Have you had your policy with the same company for at least 5 years? If so you may be entitled to a Long-Term Policy Discount.

How large of a homeowner's policy do you need? You need a policy that will cover the cost of rebuilding your home from the foundation up and of replacing all of your home's contents ? but you do not need to spend any money insuring the value of the land under your home.

If your home is more than 10 years old ask your agent how much you could save each month if you had the plumbing and the electrical systems of your home up-graded.

In order to reduce the fire risk to your home you should cut back any weeds or brush ten feet from any structures on your property. Let your agent know that you've done this.

Install motion-sensitive flood lights for your yard and trim back bushes away from all of your windows in order to discourage burglars.

Make certain that all exterior doors have working deadbolts locks and that all windows ? including upper story windows ? have a working lock.

If you can afford to install a sprinkler system and/or a home security system that monitors your home for fire or burglary 24/7 you could save as much as 20% to even 30% on your monthly homeowner's premium ? but talk to your agent before you make any final decisions as some systems will earn you more of a break on your premium that will other systems.

If anyone in your household is 55 or older and retired then you may be able to save even more on your monthly premium ? check with your agent.

Make sure you've installed the proper number of fire and smoke detectors throughout your home and that they are all working properly. Remember that you need to replace the batteries twice each year.

Do you have a fire extinguisher in your kitchen? If not, buy one and let your agent know that you have it.

Any time you do any remodeling or up-grading of anything in your home let your agent know. Many up-grades can reduce the cost of your homeowner's insurance each month.

Now that you've taken what steps you can to lower your premiums, let's take the final step and get online. Find at least 3 of the websites that allow you to compare homeowner's insurance policies side by side and take the extra time to make your price comparisons on at least 3 different websites.

Once you've done that then you can rest easy at night knowing that you have saved money and gotten the lowest-priced discount homeowner's insurance in the entire state of Florida.