Way-too-expensive, pink leopard, peep-toe pumps?
By Connie M. Tyson, CFP, CLU, LUTCF, RHU
Do you realize that by doing your everyday shopping, you might be able to help save for your children’s college expenses? Well, it’s true, you can.
Upromise, www.upromise.com, allows you to register your credit and debit cards via a confidential password. When you make purchases using those cards, a certain percentage accumulates in an account for your child’s college expenses.
What is Upromise?
Michael Bronner founded the program in 2001 to make college more affordable for middle-income families. As a financial-aid student in college, Bronner launched his first business - a coupon service for campus merchants - to help pay for much of his tuition. Former teacher Thomas Anderson joined the company in 2005, having worked with the Boston Public Schools and Massachusetts Special Education Reform. The big launch occurred in August 2006 when SLM Corporation, known to most of us as Sallie Mae, acquired Upromise, Inc.
Together, Sallie Mae and Upromise offer students and parents a solution for accruing money for college, including a range of college-savings vehicles, information, and student loans. Upromise has 8 million members, according to Debbie Hohler, Upromise director of corporate communications.
There is no annual fee to register yourself online and shop away to college savings. Upromise is a secure site that respects members’ privacy. Information about members’ family and buying habits is not used or distributed.
Members may check their accounts online for balances and to update personal information or add or delete credit and debit cards.
Basically, any time a member makes a purchase from a business in the Upromise network, a percentage goes into a specified account. For example, certain grocery products (e.g., NESTLÉ TOLL HOUSE chocolate morsels) bear the U-promise logo on their shelf tags. If you buy the chocolate chips using your registered debit or credit card, a percentage is deposited into your account.
“Although it is cents at a time, it really does add up, and it’s so easy,” says Lei Ann Marshall of Evanston, Ill. She registered all of her credit cards several years ago to benefit sons Nathan and Daniel.
Members may also link in through gasoline and other cards for everything from online shopping to restaurants and florists. Internet shopping sites partnering with Upromise include Lands’ End, Eddie Bauer, McDonald’s, Mobil, Exxon, Bed Bath & Beyond, Budget and Avis rental cars, Atlas Van Lines and Allied, FTD, and The Sharper Image. There are also vast amounts of food brands. Cruise the Web site and see where you can effortlessly add anywhere from 1 percent to 5 percent to your account with the swipe of a card.
Upromise allows members to shop and save for college at 23,000 grocery and drug stores, 14,000 gas stations, 8,000 restaurants, thousands of retail stores, and more than 400 online shopping sites. Additional retailers include Citi, Coca-Cola, Kimberly-Clark, JCPenney, Pottery Barn, and Sears - mainstream shopping sites for all of us.
Included as well are mortgage companies, finance companies, appliance companies such as Whirlpool, and banks. A significant way to accrue a lot of money quickly is to use a Upromise real estate partner the next time you buy a home or condominium, or even if you refinance. Companies such as Century 21, Coldwell Banker, and ERA can earn you up to $3,000 in rewards. This is a major life event, and if you’re going to go through it anyway, why not enjoy a bonus?
If you take out a Upromise VISA card, you can earn up to 10 percent on purchases up to a maximum of $300 a year. You can get the further savings on Upromise’s VISA card, but there are alternatives that work just as well.
“I have always preferred to use my United VISA and accrue miles,” Marshall said.
Another mother, Kirsten Schaub of Seattle, uses a similar tactic.
“I didn’t want a Upromise VISA because I like my Alaska Airlines one for air miles, but I do have it registered for all purchases I make so that I can double dip,” she said. “I not only get miles, but I get college account dollars accrued as well.”
How can you maximize Upromise?
Start with your family - grandparents, aunts, uncles - and friends. Ask them to register their credit cards to your Upromise account. When they join, a portion of their everyday spending can be deposited automatically into your child’s Upromise account. It can make a big impact on how much you save for your child’s education. Upromise allows members to send e-mail invitations to people they wish to join in contributing to their accounts.
School enrollment for using the Upromise account is defined as 18 or older and in college. This may include dental school, undergraduate school, anyone returning to school as an adult after raising children, or even anyone paying off dental school debts.
College costs have risen 40 percent in the past decade and far exceed inflation. Most families, and perhaps you, are not saving enough. Upromise is one way to help. It’s free, easy, and can turn your everyday shopping into daily college savings.
Along with monthly savings for your children in investment, savings, and 529 college savings accounts, add Upromise for greater savings. Check it out at www.upromise.com.
