Have you ever sat, looked at your insurance premiums and wondered if your insurance company had just pulled a number out of a hat and printed it on a piece of paper? That disorientation may actually get worse as you find out what your friends and family are paying for their insurance, since the difference between your monthly payments may well be just this side of ludicrous. But relax. As odd and impossible as it seems sometimes your car insurance provider actually does have a system, and understanding that system is the key to discovering how to use it to save hundreds on your car insurance.

There are four primary factors that influence the cost of your car insurance premiums. The first is who you, yourself are. It sounds odd, but think about it for a moment. Teachers and engineers are statistically less likely to get in accidents than retailers or musicians, so they often enjoy special discounts on their car insurance. Younger drivers are riskier to insure than those with some experience under their belt, and people with good credit are usually deemed responsible enough to take a risk on.

The second factor is your driving history, and this is the one that often trips drivers up on their quest to save money on their car insurance premiums. Speeding tickets, accidents (whether they involved another car or a raccoon family that went bowling across the highway) and convictions for DWI/DUI or other violations all cause the cost of your car insurance premiums to spike. Drivers who drive quickly, don't pay enough attention behind the wheel or can't convince themselves to spend money on a cab after that last Tequila Sunrise are more likely to have accidents than their more…sedate counterparts, and insurance companies know that.

The good news is that there are very few violations that will continue to impact your car insurance premiums after about five years, so if you can keep your nose clean and follow the rules of the road that long you'll not only be able to wipe those tickets and accidents off your record, you'll also be able to go from being a high risk driver to enjoying their 5 year Good Driver discount.

The third element in the mix is your car. Yes, the car you drive has almost as much impact on your car insurance premiums as your skill (or lack thereof) as a driver. Expensive cars cost more money to replace, so if your insurance payments are killing your budget each month you might want to think about trading your Lexus for a Honda. Cars with more security features are safer and therefore more insurable, and those that don't spend a lot of time on the road in major urban areas are less likely to be involved in an accident during their lifetime.

Finally, we get to the fourth element of the car insurance premiums mix. Your car insurance. The amount of coverage you choose to have, the size of your deductibles and the number of "perks" (such as roadside assistance or rental insurance) you decide to add to the bag are all going to impact your premiums. While the last thing you want to do is drive with too little insurance coverage on your car, cutting out some of the extras can go a long way toward making your insurance more affordable and, in the end, encouraging you to keep paying your bill rather than letting your policy lapse.