Student loans, grants and scholarships have long been the methods students and their parents use to pay for college expenses. But, those aren’t the only ways that you can earn some cash for tuition and books.
Something I jumped on a few years ago was Upromise. The idea behind Upromise is that after you register your credit cards and select store discount cards and use them when you shop through certain web sites or buy select products from retailers a percentage of your purchase (usually 1-4 percent) will be deposited into a college savings account. You can even link your Upromise account to a 529 college savings plan. Registering for a Upromise account is free.
The amount you save depends upon how often you shop or use your credit cards or store discount cards. You can have even more savings deposited into the account when you get friends and relatives to register their cards under the student’s name. Granted, they may want to do the same for their own kids, but we got my kids’ grandparents to register their cards.
So far, the savings add up to about $75. Now, that’s not going to send little Johnny to Harvard, or even the local community college. But, it’s enough to pay for a text book, and its money we wouldn’t have earned if we had not registered. Besides, I really don’t shop a lot. Most of this money was earned through purchasing groceries and gifts online. That’s right, there are many grocery items that offer Upromise savings, provided you pay using your credit card, or use the grocery store’s discount or loyalty card to Upromise can track your purchases.
Restaurants also participate in Upromise, and there have been nights that my wife and I have selected restaurants during our "date night" strictly based upon whether we could receive 10 percent of the food tab back in our Upromise account. The restaurants have usually been great places to eat, too.
Upromise is marketed as a way for parents and grandparents to save college money for their kids and grandkids, but I’m not aware of any rule that says you can’t use the cash to pay for your own education needs through a distance learning institution. You would just have to designate yourself as the recipient of the Upromise cash, and the money does have to be used for education purposes. The funds can also be used for graduate school, or to help pay down a student loan.
[Note: We are not affiliated with Upromise nor is this post a paid advertisement or anything like that.]