Compare gas companies - it's not as tricky as it may seem

By comparing gas suppliers in your area, you may well be able to cut your energy bills by hundreds of pounds. Using online price comparison websites is a quick and easy way to identify the most competitive gas companies.

Have you ever noticed when you eventually get round to doing those things you've been putting off, they're not as bad as you first thought? This, of course, leaves you wondering why on earth you'd prevaricated and procrastinated for so long in the first place.

A classic example of one of those jobs we're "always meaning to get round to" is checking that we're paying the best possible rate for our electricity and gas. There are lots of different energy companies operating in the market nowadays that it may seem next to impossible to compare every one.

The very thought of searching through the Yellow Pages, let alone calling up one company after another - not to mention trying to take a note of all the various price plans and deals that they offer - is enough to make anyone place this to the back of their minds.

However, comparing gas and other energy prices is nothing like as hard as it used to be - in fact it's definitely one of those jobs where afterwards you'll wonder why you left it for so long before doing. Especially because all those months that you've been meaning to check it out, you could have been saving money on your gas bills.

So just how quick and easy do you think it is to compare gas unit prices? To put it bluntly, "very".

All you have to do is arm yourself with a few facts and figures, namely your postcode, who your current energy supplier is, how much energy you use each month and what you're paying for it. Then visit one of the well-known price comparison websites where it will take just a few seconds to compare the gas prices offered by suppliers in your area.

After entering your current energy consumption details, you'll be given a full list of all the deals available. To make the whole decision process even easier, you can sort this list according to the following criteria: price, possible savings and customer rating.

At that point, it's up to you to decide - based on your own priorities - which of the suppliers, and which deal or payment plan offered by that supplier, is best suited to your personal circumstances. On most sites, you'll also be given the option to change provider immediately which means you can get the job done there and then.

Five minutes later you'll be left wondering why you didn't switch supplier ages ago. Just think of all that money you could have been saving...