Saving money on car, and other types of, insurance by paying your premiums at once

I'm probably beating a dead horse on the issue of ways to save money associated with your wheels, but there was one more I wanted to cover: car insurance and, specifically, how to save money on your premiums by paying in a single lump sum.

Most auto insurers will offer discount on your premiums if you pay the entire amount at one time vs if you pay it in either either monthly or quarterly installments.

Take my auto insurance policy for an example.  I have Progressive and am up for renewal every 6 months.  In January I received a bill saying my 6 month policy premium was $1,048.00 but it would cost me $823.00 (a $225.00 savings) if I paid the entire six months up front vs $175.00 (rounded off) if I paid it in monthly installments.  We paid it all at once, as we always do.  You just save too much money by doing it that way for me to want to do anything else.

You can get the same savings by paying your premiums in one lump sum for life insurance and homeowners insurance.  We pay our homeowners in one lump sum every March and do the same with life insurance policies as well. The life insurance saves us $5.00 per month or $60 over the course of the entire year (the annual premium is $300 if paid in a lump sum or $35.00 per month if you pay monthly).  A small amount, to be sure, but a savings nonetheless. 

I could see there being an argument that there might be better uses for your money than parting with the entire six months' premium at once versus just paying on a monthly basis.  However, leaving the money you would use to pay for the remaining five month policy term in a savings or investment account will not make up the savings you get for paying in full every six months.  Take my car insurance.  I save $223 by paying up front.  Inflation is not even 2% these days and your rate of return for using the money you did not pay towards your premium is not going to come close to beating a $223 savings over six months.  Unless you know about some sort of investment scheme I don't. 

This entire discussion is predicated upon the assumption that you have the cash to pay the entire premium up front.  I know some people suggest setting up an automated savings plan in order to have accumulated enough to be able to pay your premium twice a year.  That is not a bad plan to me, but I normally just budget things so we have enough "extra" in our savings to be able to make that payment every six months. 

In any event, I know it requires a substantial cash outlay to pay your insurance premiums at once but the savings are huge.