Free Money from uPromise

This is another one of those low-hanging fruits.

UPromise.com is an examples o "Social Savings". Perhaps the best way to describe it is to say that it's a cross between an affiliate program, a loyalty program, and a savings account.  It's fast, it's free, it's safe and it's easy.

1.  Sign-up for a free Upromise.com account
2.  Register your grocery store loyalty cards (as many as you own)
3.  Register your debit/credit cards that you use for everyday shopping. ***
4.  Go about your life as usual.

*** UPromise does not ask this information so that they can charge you anything. They use this information to link purchases that you make with their partners (over 600 of them) back to your UPromise account.  UPromise has been in business since 2001, has more than 10 million members, and is owned by a publicly traded US Company (Salle Mae Corporation).***

With your information registered, some of the purchases that you make at your grocery store, online retailers, local retaurants, and at other retailers will result in that partner making a contribution to your Upromise account. It's like you have become your own affiliate.  These retailers also do this in the hopes that you will be more likely to continue to use their goods/services in the future. This means that you can keep buying the same stuff you would have bought anyway, and in the meantime a trickle of savings will begin to flow into your UPromise account.  (You could also spend some time looking at the various merchants/products that will result in savings and switch to those products and services if you want to receive more savings, but it's not really necessary.)

These savings are supposed to be allocated towards the college savings of someone you select as your savings beneficiary. However, you are able to request that these funds be mailed to you each quarter and they leave it to your discretion to spend it how you choose. You can save for yourself, a child, someone else, or someone not even born yet it you want.

So what's the catch? Well, from my experience, these savings don't add up very quickly without you taking at least one or two more steps.

1.  Apply for the UPromise Credit Card.  This card has several benefits.  The most important is that it automatically adds an additional 1% of the total amount spent on that card to your college savings no matter where you spend it. As of this article, there is no annual fee for this card.  Bank of America also gives you an additional $25 in your UPromise account for using your UPromise card within 60 days of approval. Finally, you have the choice between two optional benefits available through the card:  additional savings on gas & grocery purchases or additional savings on dining out at restaurants when you use your UPromise Credit Card.

2.  Install TurboSaver.  TurboSaver is a browser add-on that makes sure that you get all the savings you are entitled to when you shop online at a UPromise partner. It also highlights in your Yahoo and Google searches those retailers that provide UPromise savings.  Without this add-on, you'd have to go to UPromise.com and then click on the link that takes you to the partner site in order to receive the savings.  Turbosaver cuts out that step so you get the savings without having to do anything else.

3.  Enlist the help of family and friends.  UPromise.com has a way for you to invite your family and friends to sign-up for UPromise and allocate their savings to you. If you can get a savings posse together, you will begin to see real savings accrue in your UPromise account.

Happy Savings.