One thing you can do this week
Find your electricity contract or your last annual statement and look for two dates: when your price guarantee ends and when you can give notice. Write both in your calendar, a month early. Most money lost on energy is not lost on the price; it is lost on a date nobody noticed.
A habit, not advice.
What went right
When the Black Summer fires of 2019/2020 burned through East Gippsland in Victoria, scientists found southern giant burrowing frogs surviving as tadpoles in pools "no larger than a puddle", in the words of herpetologist Matt Clancy 1. In 2021 the tadpoles went to Healesville Sanctuary; keepers raised them, and last year bred the critically endangered species in captivity for the first time 1. Now 53 frogs, each roughly the size of a cricket ball, have been released back into the forest, with song meters listening for their call 1. There are fewer than five known breeding sites in Victoria 1. "To know the species is going to continue ... is just the best news we could ever hear as keepers," said Zoos Victoria's Meagan Lane 1. A puddle, a sanctuary, a release: rescue is mostly patience with a budget line.
The day in one sentence
A vaccine passed its next gate, a lake rose twenty feet and fifty-three frogs went home: slow, careful work keeps paying off, usually without a sound.
In euros at home
On 9 November the cheapest electricity tariff for new customers averaged 33.34 cents per kWh across Germany, against 40.39 cents in basic supply; at 3,500 kWh a year, switching from basic supply to the cheapest tariff saves €246.91 a year, StromAuskunft calculates 2. The spread is very uneven: the possible saving is €657.25 in Thuringia but €41.46 in Bremen 2. And the gap has narrowed: a year ago new-customer tariffs cost 24.82 cents and basic supply 45.47 cents, a difference of 20.65 cents; today it is 7.05 cents 2. Desk arithmetic: €246.91 a year is about €20.58 a month.
StromAuskunft averages for 9 Nov 2026 across 6,355 places at 3,500 kWh a year, with standing charges and new-customer bonuses netted in. Your own figure depends on your postcode, your usage and your current contract. Nothing here is advice.
Small words
Preisgarantie (price guarantee)
A clause in an energy contract by which the supplier promises that the agreed price stays the same for a set period 2. It is what turns a tariff into something you can plan with. StromAuskunft's daily price index only counts tariffs with a guarantee of at least 12 months and a contract term of up to 12 months, so the comparison is between offers that hold still 2. The word to look for in the small print is the end date.
