Just got word from the gas company.
We’d been on budget billing, with the contracts recalculated in August, and last year there was an increase in LP prices just before then. So our monthly bill went up quite a bit. We decided it was time to (1) start burning more wood in our woodstove and (2) turn the thermostat down. Want it warmer? Start a fire. Then the LP prices dropped back down, so the actual cost of filling our tank got substantially cheaper.
So we went merrily through the winter, burning a metric assload of wood (mostly from our two newly downed oak trees), continuing to pay that larger budget amount, and actually building up a substantial credit, even though we had a few fills over the winter. Ah well, we thought, that should bring our payment amount down a bit next year.
Did it ever:
Our usage in 2007-2008: 1148 gallons
Our usage in 2008-2009: 688 gallons
We are currently prepaid for: 835 gallons
So if we continue the same usage as last winter, we’re covered. Fire up the chainsaw!!
I talked to the woman at the gas company, and she said we’ll just get a statement after each fill. When our credit starts getting low, we’ll give them a call and set up a new payment amount.
Yee-haw!
We had the opposite experience: we paid the budgeted amount, but gas prices went way up, and it was a colder winter than the previous one, so we owed the gas company an appallingly large sum of money. We decided to suck it up and buy a wood pellet stove, which will save us hundreds of dollars a year and use green fuels. I do envy you, though, having THEM you YOU money for a change.
Yeah, for some reason they had typed in an amount that was almost double last year’s budget amount, then crossed it out and wrote a note saying basically, “Call us.” I boggled: How could our payment have doubled? Glad I got that straightened out. Phew.
Mr. S pays the gas bill, and he says he’s going to use our upcoming windfall to buy four badly needed replacement windows. That should bring the bill down a bit too. 
Next year, five new windows for my office.
We use oil heat, and we’re also on the budget plan. As things stand now, they dropped our monthly payment from $84 to $48, and we’ve got over $600 on the books. I think we’re good for the winter, too.
It helps that I keep the thermostat in the mid 60s and we have a fireplace insert and a big pile of firewood. And we wear sweaters in the house… Very frugal. 
I’m so glad the budget plan worked out for you. It’s always a good feeling to have something cost less than you expected.
On a different note, I think it’s great that your gas company let your payment stay where you set it. I put us on a budget plan a few years ago, having calculated our average monthly bill, plus a bit. The gas company changes it every four months, so it still goes way up in the winter because they won’t let us build up a credit that will cover it. I think it’s to push us into the plan they have that locks us into a payment for two years.
Well, actually they recalculate it once a year based on past usage and how much over/under you paid. They have three plans:
(1) You prebuy X gallons at $x.xx, in a lump sum, payable now
(2) Budget plan based on past history, locked in at current price (our choice)
(3) Pay as you go, market price each time the tank is filled. (We used to be on this, but it was a big ouch to buy a whole tank at a time, no matter the price. We prefer distributing the pain.)
At least now we know, too, that if we ever start building up a big credit, they won’t have a problem with letting us skip a payment or two to draw it down a bit. They’ve always been pretty nice folks. A few years ago they were sending kids around to paint the tanks; we own ours, so it was supposed to cost $75, which we would have gladly paid. But they never charged us, not even when we asked about it. I guess they like to take care of their regulars.