So, you've worked hard, saved and now own your own home.  After your mortgage payment, property tax and host of other expenses, the last thing you want to think about is homeowners insurance.

But, if you own a home, insurance is usually a requirement, not a luxury.  That doesn't mean, however, that you have to pay more than necessary. Unfortunately, many people do pay far too much. That's because they don't follow some basic rules and often mistakenly believe that finding the best deal is time consuming and difficult.

But, if you remember these 4 simple tips, you will be well on your way to getting the best possible insurance rates, and making sure the extra cash you save ends up in your pocket - not those of the insurance company.

Tip # 1 - Equip your home with basic safety and security equipment

Insurance companies love to see certain features in a home that reduce their long term risk.  They usually provide discounts for these that more than make up for the expense of the items.  The two most important ones are smoke detectors and alarm systems (preferably connected to a monitoring service). You'll get as much as a 15% discount of you have them.

Tip # 2 - Consider a higher deductable.

If your house is in reasonably good shape and you don't mind taking care of small problems such as broken windows or small problems (say damaged drywall from a leaky pipe) ,then you should go for a higher deductible. This can save you a lot.

Tip #3 - Take advantage of multiple discounts

Most insurance companies will offer discounts if you have more than one policy with them.  Consider getting your auto or boat insurance from the same company and you will automatically be eligible for discounts in the neighborhood of 15%

Tip #4 - Use the latest Internet services to take the hassle out of finding the lowest rate

In the old days, people would have personal insurance agents that would advise them of the best coverage's and values for their policies.  Today, however, the Internet is rapidly making the friendly local insurance agent obsolete.

That's because online services let consumers shop for the best rates from a nationwide selection of insurance companies, all competing for your business.  You simply enter your requirements, and the service instantly requests quotes from a wide range of companies.  It then finds you the best offers based on your most important criteria, including least expensive.

One of the most comprehensive of these services is a company called InsWeb.com, which operates a free website service that can help you find the best insurance quotes from a wide network of premium insurers.   The site also provides a wealth of information to help you understand how different policies work and how you can save the most money possible.

Competitive insurance rates are constantly changing, and for certain policies rates have dropped significantly in the past 12 months.  You can be sure, however, that your insurance company is not going to call you up and let you know their rates have dropped.   But, with a minimal amount of time on a service such as InsWeb.com you can easily save on your homeowner's policy.

To check out the InsWeb service and find out how much you're over-paying for your homeowners coverage, click here.