WIRR Welcome Thread - learn more about the WIRRs

[captainredracer]

Hello and welcome to the Women in Red Racers! As you already know, the purpose of the Racers is DEBT ELIMINATION. We are called the Racers because we are racing to pay off our debt. Each person races at her own pace. It isn’t a race against each other.

The information below provides our Mission, How to Join the WIRR and Post updates, and other tips for navigating the Proboards and to successfully reduce debt.

Mission
Our mission is to provide a community that offers support, inspiration, and guidance for members who are committed to reducing their debt.

How to know if this group is right for you:

• You recognize that you want to remove your financial debt but you’d like a supportive community who can sympathize with your situation and offer support and advice.
  
• You are willing to take responsibility for your situation and to create a plan to get out of debt.
  
• You recognize that getting out of debt will require hard work, a reevaluation of your priorities, and you may have setbacks.
  
• You want the support of this community to cheer with you when you make progress and to offer encouragement, support, and tough love (if needed) when you have a setback.
  

Please note that this forum consists of regular people who are working to better their own financial lives, they are not experts.

Please bear in mind the following:
Advice or suggestions on this website should be carefully reviewed before taken. If you are ever unsure about a suggestion or piece of information, please consult with an accountant, lawyer or other professional.

There is a lot of information to digest below but we have full confidence that you’ll get the hang of it quickly. It required a small learning curve for all of us to learn these boards but the community support that you’ll get by joining these boards is worth the effort! We welcome any questions you have about using the boards, posting information, etc. Please don’t be afraid to ask!

HOW TO JOIN THE WOMEN IN RED RACERS:

Step #1: Read through all the instructions below before making your first post.

Step #2: Set up a username (this is required to post on any of the Proboards. To do this, click the “login” tab at the top of the page and it will walk you through the steps needed.)

Step #3: Sign in with the username you created.

Step #4: Post your first message. This first message will list the debt(s) you want to pay off. We’ve created a common format for posting updates because it makes it easier to track everyone’s progress—and hand out rewards!

The instructions for posting your first message and the preferred FORMAT for posting your numbers are detailed below.

• Go to the bottom of the page. You will see a blank space. Click “Post Reply” and a new screen will open for you to post your information.
  
  
• Once you click “Post Reply”, we would like you to tell us your story about what brought you to the boards. If you have a plan of action, let us know what it is. If you don’t have a plan, ask us for help, we’ve seen almost every scenario and someone can offer advice to help you out. See the "Tips and Strategies for used by WIRR members to pay off debt" thread to get ideas.
  
  
• Post your starting debt values and the values for your future updates using the commonly used format. Click here to access the “How post your Initial Debt and Update your Numbers" thread.
  
  
• Once you make your first post, you are a member of the Women in Red Racers. Note: We strive to update the list weekly. At times, it may take two weeks to add new members to the official list.
  
  
• As you pay down your debts, you will earn "Rewards" or "Smilestones" in the form of smiley faces and other emoticons. We use Smileys to show how much debt we’ve paid off! It may seem silly, but you will see how addictive they are!
  

Your captain or co-captains are the MAIN contact for questions. But other posters can probably answer them as well. Your captains are volunteers who take turns tracking your group. All teams work together to maintain the member lists and updates.

List of WIRR Captains

Minnesotagirl7
jdnstl
LaramiK
speechchick71
urdoingit