Upromise and Our Kids
Posted by Cathy Yanda
You may have already heard about Upromise®, you may already be a
member, or maybe you've just seen the notices at your local
grocery that they participate. If not, you really need to learn
more about it. Upromise® is a free service designed to help
families save for college. Every time you shop, you could be
saving money for your kids' college education. This not only
means when you shop at the grocery, but whenever you shop
online, at your favorite stores, when you travel, eat out, and
much more. This is something you shouldn't overlook. Who can
join? Parents, grandparents, extended family, friends, literally
anyone can join. The only requirement is you must be a U.S.
resident to join. Even if you live abroad, you can join. If you
travel and make eligible purchases outside of the U.S., you will
get savings back. The more people you have saving for your kids'
college, the better. At Upromise®, you can send a personalized
email inviting family and friends to support your kids' future
college education. It is then up to your family and friends who
receive the email you sent to let you know they accept your
invitation. Your family and friends can allocate any portion of
their Upromise® college savings to your kids ~ this way
grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends can help save for more
than one kid. With the help of others, you could be saving more
than twice as much for college. Where can I save? You can save
at retail stores, grocery and drugstores, home financing, auto
services, moving companies, restaurants, online shopping, and
more. These are respected companies you probably already shop
with ~ you just aren't getting anything back to help save for
college. How does it work? Upromise® has set up a network of
companies. One of the easiest ways to save is with your grocery
card. The grocery where I usually shop has a loyalty card and
every time I buy brands like Coca-Cola, Kellogg's, Tide, and
many more, I'm saving money for my kid's college. Another way is
with your current credit cards. You can get free college savings
at thousands of retailers and restaurants by using the cards you
already have in your wallet. All you have to do is register them
with Upromise® and every time you use one of the cards, you will
be getting a percentage of your spending back into your
Upromise® account ~ automatically. Your credit card information
is protected with strict security precautions. You can also shop
online through an online shopping section at Upromise®. If you
forget to start your shopping through Upromise.com and go
straight to your favorite participating online retailers, you'll
miss out on college contributions you're entitled to from your
purchases. You can maximize your college savings by being
reminded when you could be getting money back for college while
shopping online by using RemindU®, a downloadable software
application. You can get 1 to 25% back for college when you
shop.
Upromise® also has special programs with companies like Citi®,
McDonald's® and many more. How does this work? Once you start
accumulating savings into your account, you may want to open a
529 College Savings Plan to increase the return on your savings.
Upromise® can automatically transfer your savings into your new
account. Contributions to a 529 plan account are made with
after-tax dollars and are currently free from federal income tax
if used to pay qualified higher education expenses. You can't
ask for more than that. Or can you? Yes, there is more. If you
already have student loans, you can make payments to your loans
via Upromise®. I already have a 529 College Savings Plan, what
can this do for me? This is a great benefit ~ Upromise® will
automatically transfer any savings you accumulate in your
account directly to your 529 College Savings Plan. What else do
they offer? The site has some really great information about
applying for college loans and preparing for college. Even if
you decide Upromise® is not for you, check out their website,
there are lots of things of value to be found. Ok already, what
is the website? Go to www.upromise.com. It's that simple. I hope
you have as much success as I have. The first month, just by
registering my grocery card, more than $30 was deposited into my
account. After that, I registered all of my other cards. Not
only can you access your account online, but you will also
receive special coupons and promotions through the postal
service. In my humble opinion, this couldn't be easier. I'm
getting money back for buying things I would be purchasing
already. I don't mind shopping near as much as I have in the
past because I know now that part of every dollar I am spending
is going for my kid's college education.
Neither Sati nor http://www.mykidstoo.com are affiliated with
Upromise® in any way. Readers of this article may copy it
without the copyright owner's permission, if the author and
publisher are acknowledged in the copy and the copy is used for
education, not-for-profit purposes.
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