This week’s quick and easy tip is to sign up for Upromise… and to get everyone you know to do so, too. That second part may be harder, but when it comes to Upromise, there’s strength in numbers.
What Is Upromise?
It’s a service that gives you cash back for certain purchases. It’s usually just a small percentage, but it adds up! You register your credit, debit, and grocery club cards with Upromise, and whenever you buy a Upromise sponsored product, you get a little money back.
It only takes a few minutes to sign up, and can add up to hundreds of dollars over the years. Next time you’re out grocery shopping, look for the Upromise “U” logo next to the price tags of sponsored products.You can earn even more from Upromise by shopping through their website.
But the best part: other people can sign up and donate their Upromise earnings to you. My mom’s Upromise account is set up to donate half of her earnings to me, and the other half to my niece (her granddaughter) for future college costs. My boyfriend’s earnings are also donated to me. That’s a pretty sweet deal for me, since I don’t do too much shopping myself!
Money in your Upromise account is meant for college costs. They make it easy to link it up to a 529 education savings account, and they also give you options to use it to make payments on student loans from certain lenders. Or you can request your earnings in the form of a check, which you can then use to pay tuition or loans directly. Or you could use it to buy textbooks, or whatever.
Now that I’m done with school, I have to decide what to do with my future Upromise earnings. Should I put them toward my student loans? Start a 529 account, and later change the name to that of my future child? Decisions decisions! For now, I’ll just keep letting the money build up.
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10 responses to “College Money Tip #14: Upromise” 
I wasn’t familiar with UPromise…thanks for the heads up Stephanie!
You should definitely pay off your stupid loan debt before saving for your future child’s college education. One generation at a time!
Thanks for letting us know! Do you have a Upromise referral link?
Thanks,
Nate
Very cool! Never heard of it before, but I’ll definitely look into it. Looks great. Are there really that many products our there that contribute?
It’s an interesting idea, and I didn’t realize that it could be used to pay off student debt (my only current debt). That definitely makes it much more useful to me. And I agree with Regina; focus on chipping away your student debt, before even thinking about helping as-yet unborn children. The less debt you have when you start having kids, the less trouble you’ll have when you do start having kids. (And it occurred to me that I just used the word ‘have’ four times in that last sentence.)
@Regina: my stupid loan debt, eh? Well, I’m not so sure my student loans are the “stupidest debt” I’ve ever incurred! heehee But I get what you’re saying. The advantage of my student loans is that they’re at a very low interest rate (they’re all federal loans), so mathematically, it might make sense to pay them off as slowly as possible, and focus on other goals in the meantime.
@Nate: I don’t have “referral links,” per say. I am a Upromise affiliate, so I do get a small kickback when people sign up through this website. I only use affiliate links for programs that I have used or would use personally. Upromise is in that category – my mom has been using it for my college savings since I was 14!
@Trevor: There are quite a few products. I believe the big tub of Tollhouse cookie dough is one? But don’t quote me on that! It tends to be big brand names that are affiliated with Upromise.
@Roger: Thanks for your input as well. I personally think that grandparents should be the ones to save for children’s education, because of the way that the financial aid process works. But that’s a whole ‘nother story, isn’t it?
True, true, putting the money for someone’s education in the name of someone other than the parent’s (whose ability to pay is considered by colleges) is a good idea, as well.
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Hey Stephanie, I work at upromise and if you do want a referral link where people can shop on your behalf and you get the credit, you can get it here: http://www.upromise.com/guestshopping
Thanks for the great blog post!
Follow us on twitter @upromise
I can’t believe that that is leget, but I guess it is. I am very interested. Great post.