If you have kids or are hoping to have kids someday in the future, planning for their college education seems overwhelming, but it’s not something you want to overlook.  It is never too early to start planning, either.  The costs just continue to increase every year, and it seems the costs are increasing much faster than our earnings. 

What if you  have no plans for offspring?  You can still let your every day spending benefit your own college education if you used loans to finance some or all of your higher ed costs.

It can be really difficult to be disciplined enough to stretch your dollars into savings accounts for yourself and/or your children.  Most families don’t feel there is enough money to go around- so this is a good way of letting the things you are already buying benefit your long term savings goals- things like groceries, holiday presents, and restaurant meals.

Upromise is a program that gives people a way to connect the debit and credit cards they are already using, as well as grocery store discount cards, to their Upromise accounts.  Each time you use the card at participating retailers or to purchase certain products, a small percentage of the purchase will be credited to your Upromise account.   

Additionally, if you do online shopping (and who doesn’t this time of year?) logging into your Upromise account first, and then clicking on the various store shopping links from within their site will result in higher rewards to your Upromise account.  It’s a simple step that if you remembered to do it each time, could result in a few extra dollars credited to your account every time you did your online shopping.

In fact, participating Upromise companies fall under the following categories:

  • consumer packaged goods
  • Grocery stores
  • online stores
  • Local retailers
  • Restaurants

Earnings in your account can be saved for a beneficiary that you designate; can be applied to your existing school loan payments; or can be transferred into a NY 529 account  (which is a tax-advantaged college savings program- I am sure other states have equivalent plans that can be connected!) In my personal Upromise account, I actually have both of my children set up as beneficiaries, with the older child receiving 45% of the earnings, the younger child receiving 35% of the earnings, and the remainder going towards my own college loan payments.

Additionally, you can grow your earnings faster by inviting your family and friends to connect their grocery store cards and debit cards to your Upromise account also.  You don’t see their card numbers within your account; but whenever your connected friends and family shop with their cards, their earnings are then credited to your own account.  I actually earn three times as much from purchases my mom and aunt make as I do my own!