Saving Money for College Using Upromise

As a single mother for most of my life, paying for my daughter's college education has always been in the front of my mind. Two years ago, I began searching for ways to save money without having to cut back on the things that my daughter needs today. I found an awesome Web site called Upromise to help me save without having to change the way we currently live. I logged on to www.upromise.com, created an account, and began to research all of the ways that I could get money added into the account without having to spend extra money.

As a busy mom, with a full time job, I spend a lot of time shopping on-line for everything from clothing to mortgage rates, and I learned that almost every purchase I make can save money for college just by going through this website to make the purchase. Upromise has hundreds of on-line partners offering anywhere from 1-25% of the purchase back into an account for a specific beneficiary. I have yet to find a store that is not a partner! I have bought electronics, clothing, Christmas presents, and so many other items that I would have purchased anyway. Each time that I make a purchase through the site, I watch my balance build. It is so exciting, and that is not even the beginning.

Family and friends can also sign up to save for your child. The site has a very user friendly method of allowing people to send messages to others who can help them save as well. Grandparents, siblings, co-workers, and friends can all be easily invited to create their own account and link it to your designated beneficiary, and each time they shop on-line, your savings grows.

With the rising price of gas and groceries, everyone has to stretch a dollar, but you can save here too. By entering your grocery store card numbers into your account, you can get savings through the many participating grocery stores and food items that you would purchase anyway. There are even gas stations that are participating, by giving upromise members a percentage of the total price or a few cents per gallon purchased into their account.

If you eat out, and I know with the economy the way it is many people have cut back, but if you do, there are hundreds of restaurants that will give members a percentage of the bill as a contribution to their account. Believe it or not, the tip is included in the price of the bill. And currently, there is a program running that allows Upromise members to complete a survey about the restaurant and earn an extra $2.

If all of this isn't enough, there is also a partner called erewards, that will let you take on-line surveys to build cash value that can be transferred over to your Upromise account at certain intervals. I began completing some of these surveys only 3 months ago, and have already added an extra $10 to my account! You want more, you got it! If you are interested in a new credit card, Citibank also has a Upromise credit card that will give you an additional 1% on everything that you purchase.

So, add it all up. On-line shopping, family and friend savings, eating out, grocery shopping, gas, on-line surveys, credit cards....I have saved almost $200 in 6 months. Doesn't sound like much, but I haven't spent anything more than I normally would have, and I have already saved enough for a few college text books!