This episode is all about finding the best offer for your electricity and gas in those states of Australia where you choose your energy retailer.\n\nThere are more than 37 energy retailers vying for our business yet many of us never switch, even though prices have risen quite significantly in recent years.\n\nThe key considerations for comparing energy providers are:\n\n * Dual Fuel \u2013 do you want to consolidate your electricity and gas? Even add your solar? This little convenience as you still receive separate bills and may only get an initial discount, rather than an ongoing one.\n * Tariff choice \u2013 Single tariff, Block tariff, time of use/flexible tariff\n * Daily Supply Charge\n * Discount \u2013 is it applied on total bill or only on useage?\n * Contract Length \u2013 up to five years\n * Connection and Disconnection fees\n * Green Energy\n * Administration \u2013 Billing and online tools\n\nThe recommended steps are:\n\n * Review your recent bills to confirm your current costs, plan details and energy usage\n * Visit the relevant energy comparison siteVictoria : Energy Compare\n [https://compare.energy.vic.gov.au/]NSW: Energyswitch\n [https://energyswitch.service.nsw.gov.au/]SA: Energy Made Easy\n [https://www.energymadeeasy.gov.au/]National: Powering Forward\n [http://www.poweringforward.energy.gov.au/]\n * Download your usage data\n * Compare the providers\n * Phone your current provider to ask if they can match the best deal\n * Assess if you should switch\n * Phone your preferred provider to confirm the plan details and then switch.\n\nLIFE ADMIN HIGH OF THE WEEK\n\n * Mia talks about outsourcing the preparation of her CV to a professional resume writing service and how much more time efficient it was\n\nLIFE ADMIN LOW OF THE WEEK\n\n * Dinah talks about the time involved in manually moving all the direct debits to her new banking arrangement.\n * Mia talks about how she had planned to start working on her digital photos but her pairing plan was foiled, once again.\n\nPOWER TOOL\n\n * Outlook Email App [https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/microsoft-outlook/id951937596?mt=8] \u2013 better app to manage email and calendar sharing\n\nRESOURCES\n\n * Government energy comparison sites:Victoria : Energy Compare\n [https://compare.energy.vic.gov.au/]NSW: Energyswitch\n [https://energyswitch.service.nsw.gov.au/]SA: Energy Made Easy\n [https://www.energymadeeasy.gov.au/]National: Powering Forward\n [http://www.poweringforward.energy.gov.au/]\n\nSHARE\n\nPlease head to the\xa0Life Admin Life Hacks Facebook page [https://www.facebook.com/Life-Admin-Life-Hacks-277520802977057/]\xa0to connect with listeners and share your thoughts, questions or suggestions.