Comments on: UPromise Review: Free & Automatic College Savings

By: upromisegirl

upromisegirl — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 02:45:56 +0000

Hey everyone, love to hear the Upromise chatter. I work there and want to clarify that yes, you can put it into a 529 if you wish- or you can leave it in your Upromise account…or you can withdraw at any time…the choice is yours! The best ways to save are by shopping online, through our credit card or by downloading our Turbosaver widget which will remind you which online sites participate. Thanks!
Follow upromise on twitter @upromise

By: Maha

Maha — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 05:05:14 +0000

I’ve also been using upromise for many years. When I’m about to buy something online, I always check upromise to see if I’ll get a percentage back. If you don’t install their automatic site detector, I don’t know what it’s called, then you have to be diligent about going to the upromise site, finding the store you’re going to buy from, then click the link to the store. When we bought our house, I used a real estate company listed on upromise. We got around $2300 back from that purchase. I also use the credit card, and if you cash out $200 and under, you don’t have to get a bank signature (the name of the kind of signature escapes me), which costs $10. If you sign up for their credit card and use it for day care costs, general costs, bills, etc, then the rebate adds up pretty fast. Most of my rebates come from using the credit card. Just make sure you pay it off each month or the interest will wipe out any benefits.

By: Justin

Justin — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 22:21:13 +0000

I’ve been using UPromise for years as well. One thing you should make clear: the rebates do not have to fund a 529 college savings plan. Upromise is not up-front about this useful feature: you can simply cash out the rebates, and get a plain check that you can cash.

This information was a bit hidden on their website last time I checked.. but it’s important to note because folks w/ no expectation of having college expenses might pass on these rebates w/out looking further.

By: Sam

Sam — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 20:35:31 +0000

Upromise is great! I’ve been a member since 2003 and have over $1,500 in the account. We use the Upromise card for all of our purchases, Day Care, groceries, gas, etc. After linking to the 529 plan, Upromise moves the money from our account directly to the 529 automatically on a quarterly basis. Becoming a member is a no-brainer.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 13:59:12 +0000

Love the Upromise!! I’ve been a member since 2002 and have earned just over $1,200 so far – most of which from the past few years.

I’ve earned the most cash back from the dining rewards and using the Upromise credit card, but just about any online purchase I make, I earn cash back.

By: Skip

Skip — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 03:33:24 +0000

I have recieved a nuber of useful coupons and discounts that I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise For instance, my son’s SAT class gave us a huge kickback, and of course whenever there are the food double dips!

By: Jim

Jim — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 02:33:34 +0000

Only from the greatest of readers.

By: saladdin

saladdin — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 01:34:11 +0000

I wonder where you got this great idea for a post.

saladdin

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 01:33:05 +0000

From what you said, am I correct to assume that parents can transfer any and all money to their child at any time?

By: Mia

Mia — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 00:47:13 +0000

I’ve never, not once, received an advertisement from Upromise. They’re not even pushy on their website. I do agree that no one should use a rebate, cash-back or coupon just because it’s there.

By: Luke

Luke — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 00:39:30 +0000

Retailmenot has some coupon codes that you can use for signing up and get some free money in the account. If you’re going to open the account, you may as well get free money!

I’ve had the card for several years and used is as my primary credit card up until about 3 years ago. I was able to get the Fidelity MasterCard that put 2% of every purchase into a Fidelity 529. I believe it is now an Amex.

I’ve been happy with the program, since the inception. In fact, I was in Phoenix on business a few weeks ago and ate at a restaurant for lunch using my Fidelity CC. I was reimbursed by work for the full amount, earned 2% on my CC and got 4% into my Upromise account, since it was an iDine restaurant!

By: Daniel

Daniel — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 23:03:10 +0000

One caveat: UPromise is a marketing company that makes its money by targeting us for advertisements. It’s an effective too IF you don’t let them influence you to make purchases you would otherwise avoid. If you start spending more because, “hey, it helps out my UPromise account”, then you’d be better off just putting the cash straight into a savings account.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 22:58:03 +0000

Thank you for the info! I’ll be setting ours up tonight.
Thanks again!

By: Mia

Mia — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 22:54:31 +0000

I’ve been a member since June 2001 and currently have earned $483.33. I didn’t use it much in the 1st few years but now use it every time I shop on-line – even E-bay and on-line tax preparation. We also receive a great % back for business car and hotel rentals (in addition to the rewards given by those businesses!).

Michelle, parents own the account/money. It’s also very easy to allocate any percentage to several children – 10% to child 1, 30% to chld 2, and 60% to child 3 for example – and then link these to your college plans. The $ is then automatically transferred every quarter.

By: Suburban Dollar

Suburban Dollar — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 21:29:10 +0000

I have had nothing but good experiences with them, of course I just logged on for the first time in two months… I only have like $20 in there but all I have done is linked my main CC and my shopping cards. The key is to just don’t do anything different and it really is free money.