I'm Saving Money!

Yesterday I saved several hundred dollars - at least I think I did.  I had an automatic delivery of heating oil - 139 gallons, about 30 gallons less than we usually get at this time of the year.  I guess our conservation, or living in frigid temperatures, has made a difference.  Now if my hands thaw out I can write a check to pay for the delivery.  Actually, I am not really telling the whole story.  You may remember how I originally locked in at $5.20 per gallon last August.  Then, after pushing the issue with my dealer, I was able to get a better price of $4.74.  My last delivery at that price cost me $791.77.  But then a few weeks ago, when I heard how low prices had dropped, I decided to exercise a clause in my contract which allowed me to break the contract for a fee of $599.  I figured that I could still save $500 to $1000 during 2009 by doing that.  Well, yesterday I had my first delivery on my new contract and my bill was $330.21 which is a savings of $328.65 over my previous contract price.  So I only need to save $270 more to break even.  And actually it is a savings of almost $400 over my first contract price.  So, thank the Lord, my heating bills won't be nearly as bad as I had expected.  And I am really even saving more since I wrote a very kind letter to the manager of my heating company in which I admitted that the choice had been mine.  I did kindly suggest some alternative approaches that they could consider for the next heating season.  After receiving the letter they contacted me and were actually  appreciative of my letter - they apparently have been receiving many calls and letters that haven't been very kind.  They told me that they couldn't legally waive the buy-out fee, but they helped me renegotiate a contract and actually provided a few other very nice concessions.  So the moral of the story is that it can be good to make contacts with a company over such issues. Don't assume that nothing can be done.  But it should be done in a positive way - the way that you would hope that a Christian might react.  Sometimes kind words can make a difference.  So maybe I can now turn up my thermostat and let my fingers thaw out.