Upromise: Save for college by spending money!

Crazy right? With Upromise, that’s exactly how it works. Upromise is a great savings program with your future (or your child’s future) in mind. They partner with online retailers, restaurants and more, to help you put money in the bank. It’s really easy too! All you have to do, is log into your free Upromise account, pick the store you would like to shop at, buy through the link, and the savings are automatically put into your Upromise account. Every store has a slightly different savings rate. For example, right now, Target.com is offering 2% of your purchase. That means, 2% of how ever much you spend online at Target will get saved! And you don’t have to do anything at all, but shop like you usually would. 2% doesn’t sound like much, and I am certain this won’t build your child’s entire college fund. But, here’s what I figure. We shop at Target very frequently in my family. I generally buy the majority of my home decor, some clothing, baby gear, movies, etc. I estimate we spend about 50 bucks a week just at Target. Going on that average, we will be putting 52 bucks a year into a savings fund. Not much right? My daughter is only 1. If we keep doing that, she will have 881 bucks to put towards college, just from shopping at Target. Gonna pay for her entire tuition? No way. Is 881 bucks going to help a lot? You bet!

But Target isn’t the only place to save! There are hundreds of stores listed. Walmart, Land of Nod, Pottery Barn Kids, Barnes and Noble. And the rates all vary from store to store, so while Target is offering 2%, Melissa & Doug and Old Navy are offering 5%! There’s a special right now where Barnes and Noble is offering a whopping 10%! Think about any children’s birthdays you may have coming up, buy the kiddo’s some books and save for you own kiddo’s college! There are so many stores, I can’t even list them all. Lowe’s, Bloomingdales, William’s Sonoma, and hundreds more. With all the stores that participate, you are sure to find ways to put money into your savings for doing nothing but shopping! I have only just started this program in the past week, and have put 15 dollars into my daughter’s college fund, and I did it by buying things I was already going to buy anyways. I make it a point now, when I need something, to log into Upromise and see what I can get there first. Sometimes, I can’t get as a great of a deal as I can with coupons, or going into the actual store, but it’s worth a look.

There’s more. Groceries! Groceries can save. Register your grocery store club cards, load them with coupons, shop and save. Since your grocery club card is already linked to your Upromise account, the savings are automatically added. You do nothing else!

Not done yet! Restaurants. You can earn money when you eat out as well. You link your debit card (this website has been around for a very long time and is reputable, but please research before you take my word for it and enter your card info.), and eat out at any of the participating restaurants, and earn up to 8%! Just be sure to check the website for what days each restaurant offers the deal and dine on that day. Next tim eyou go out to dinner with a large group of people at a participating location, think about picking up the tab. 8% is a pretty good reward!

There’s still more, but I’ll let you browse the website to figure out the rest. There’s just way too much to list in one post! You can get rewards on loans, savings on car purchases, and so much more. They also have an app for iPhones and Blackberry’s that help you locate deals where ever you are. You can download the special browser tool bar for your computer, and whenever you are surfing the web, you will be alerted to deals. Get even more savings by opening a Upromise credit card too. You can also invite your family and friends to participate, and their savings will automatically be sent to you. How cool is that? Grandma and Grandpa can help without doing anything extra (besides signing up).

Now, with all the money that you are going to start stashing away, what do you do with it? You can pay off student loans automatically, or you can have the money transferred into other high interest accounts. If none of that appeals to you, then you can just request a check! Seriously! You saved it, it’s yours. Do what you like. I imagine there’s fee’s and taxes involved, but you can pull it out if you want.

One thing I noticed is, you need to be sure to read any fine print to get the best deal. I have just signed up myself, so I am not sure about all the features it has to offer yet. This looks like it can be great for people who do a lot of shopping online. So if that’s you, at least check it out! You could be earning money for doing what you were already gonna do anyways.

*This post was not compensated in anyway. These are strictly my opinions and findings, and your results may vary. I am not in any way affiliated with Upromise, other than as an active user.*