Singletary: When you know better, you’ll be better

And what do you know? Life happened. A big downpour left a puddle in the living room. “Needed a new roof,” the reader wrote. “Didn’t have it all, but had half saved in the emergency fund. Hurt a little, but not as much as it could have. Got very low-interest financing for the half I didn’t have and now I’m starting again from zero. If I had listened to you earlier, I could’ve saved it all.”

When you know better, you do better. And having half of what you need is better than having none of what you need.

Here’s a testament that it pays to be your own advocate: “I’m dealing with a house fire caused by a plumber, and my homeowner’s insurance sent me a nonrenewal notice because I had two claims in three years. I immediately called up my insurance agent and had them contact the underwriting department of the insurance company to ask them to reconsider, owing to the fact that the fire claim will be reimbursed by the plumber’s insurance, that I’ve been a good customer with them for 13 years, and that I have excellent credit. I sweated it out, but they reconsidered. So, folks, it pays to push back when big business tries this stuff!”

Lots of people shout a hallelujah for the day when they get rid of their mortgage.

“I’ve been waiting years to tell you this testimony,” one woman wrote. “We’ve got an appointment at the bank to pay off the mortgage! We have a lot to be grateful for, but my spouse has developed some serious health issues (grateful for our health insurance). Not having a mortgage means we have more flexibility in how we tackle our situation. And don’t worry, we still have savings to cover medical expenses.”

I can never get enough of stories about people paying off debt. “My wife and I paid off all our loans (student, cars and credit cards),” another reader wrote. Now they plan on aggressively going after the mortgage. How did they do it all? They mostly lived off one income.

Speaking of burdens, Americans are carrying a combined $1.4 trillion in outstanding student loans. I’m thrilled when people drop that weight off their back. One person shared what that’s like.

“It feels great! I wanted to thank you for your words of wisdom and also let people know that it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. We took a more balanced approach. I was able to get married and we paid for the modest wedding ourselves. We are a one-car family even though it can be inconvenient at times. We also manage to go on small vacations every year and bought a house within our means.”

If you’ve got a testimony, I want to hear from you. Send your comments to colorofmoney@washpost.com. You never know. Your story might inspire someone else to do better.

Michelle Singletary welcomes comments and column ideas. Reach her in care of The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. N.W., Washington, DC 20071; or singletarym@washpost.com.