<p>What</a> is Upromise? Turn Everyday Spending Into Money for College - Upromise</p>
<p>Does anyone use Upromise?
How does it work?
It appears that you get this small reward on purchases without having a Upromise credit card / losing other rewards / putting in any extra effort at all (other than making online purchases via links on their website). This seems too good to be true.
Is it?</p>
<p>We have friends who did this. They did get a SMALL (very small) amount from Upromise. As I recall, they got enough to pay for books for one term. BUT every penny counts!!</p>
<p>I’m also signed up for it and would like to hear from others. So far my experience is that in a month we’ve gotten $1.02. I did not sign up for their credit card or change my usual buying habits at all. I did register my usual credit card that I use for most everyday purchases and gasoline.</p>
<p>Is it worth it? Not sure – it’s only a buck. I guess in theory I’ve given up some small amount of privacy. But on the other hand, I am a fan of store loyalty cards that give benefits in exchange for keeping track of my purchasing habits.
Still, a free buck is a free buck.</p>
<p>It’s not just for using their links to purchase online, if you sign up, you enter your shoppers card number from the supermarkets you shop at and it gives you money (very little) back on specific brands or items. We’ve been signed up for years and have earned a few hundred this way. I had put youngest son as the beneficiary of this money because I figure the money is more likely to run out when he goes to school.</p>
<p>I just recently discovered that they have a link to ebay I wish I’d discovered it back when we bought a boat and a car that way… oh well</p>
<p>We tried it for years, but a few cents here and there from buying stuff at the grocery store, does not add up. They encourage you to buy stuff online with credit cards, which we don’t do, and eating at certain restaurants, something else we don’t do. </p>
<p>I finally closed it out and got less than $150.00! LOL… Big deal</p>
<p>I think it is yet another scam to get people to buy higher-priced goods. I did sign up for it years ago when it first started, and have gotten probably less than $100 from it. You only get “kick-backs” when buy name-brand products, and I have found that one saves more $ if one just buys the store brands or what ever is on sale (ie: in the grocery store). </p>
<p>Better to get a credit card that pays cash back. Then cash in the points and contribute it to your child’s 529 or other college investments.</p>
<p>I signed up for it many years ago as well and never changed my buying habits or even thought about it at all…just enrolled my regular debit/credit/store discount cards and never even looked at the statements they emailed me since I figured it was probably pennies and quarters. Finally, last spring, I logged back in and found there was around $200 sitting there…requested the funds and gave it to D for books. I thought it was worth it since it took less than 10 minutes years ago to sign up. It’ll never be that high again while my kids are in school, but maybe it’ll come in handy for my future grandchildren…in 20 or 30 years, haha!</p>
<p>I’ve been a Upromise member since 2001, and we’ve saved about $1400 in that time. We also got several hundred dollars on a similar site, Babymint, although I don’t use that one anymore. </p>
<p>I DO have a Upromise credit card, and the majority of our savings are from that. In the past, we did pretty well on grocery savings, when Coca-Cola, Tide and Kellogg’s were participants. Nowadays, the participant mix is different, and it’s just a few cents here and there for us. I occasionally shop online through Upromise, and some restaurants are Upromise participants. It’s always a pleasant surprise when we dine out on vacation or business travel and discover later that we were at a Upromise restaurant and have gotten a few bucks back. </p>
<p>I think the key thing is to use common sense and NOT spend on products, online shops, etc. that you wouldn’t choose otherwise. It doesn’t make sense to buy a brand name Upromise-participating product that would return 5 cents on Upromise when you’d otherwise save 50 cents by buying a store brand. </p>
<p>Overall, we’ve been pleased with Upromise. It’s certainly not a big factor in our college savings plan, but it helps. My oldest recently graduated from college (Woohoo! One off the family payroll!) and our daughter is currently a college freshman. So I’ll keep the Upromise card for now, will drop it or switch reward options in a couple years, probably.</p>
<p>Been a Upromise member since 2002.
Do NOT have a Upromise Credit card and have not changed my purchasing patterns at grocery or online.
BUT I am a pretty avid online shopper at a few participating stores, especially Kohls and Lands End. So I remember to link to the sites through Upromise when I’m ready to shop and save 1-7% of purchase depending on store and promotions.
I can still use my Kohls percentage off coupons so I get upromise % off on top of that. </p>
<p>I ask for a check to be sent about once per year from Upromise…about $150-250 each year. Takes very little effort so hard to pass up the money back on purchases I would be making anyway.</p>
<p>jjcddg,
Oh man, I didnt know they had an ebay link!That could have been helpful.</p>
<p>Also a member since 2002. I got a Upromise credit card to let the kids use for school purchases. It isnt used for anythign else, so if they lose it it sint as big a disaster as it could be with another of our cards. I’ve gotten about $600 back (actulaay $500 andd I should click the link to get the almost $100 that is available for me) since I signed up, but its free, so I am not complaining. I used to be more diligent about looking for services through it-- less so now.</p>
<p>It’s not a scam. I shop online at a few retailers and have the credit card. I figure it’s a cash back bonus that goes straight into my 529s (I have the accounts linked). Makes more sense than frequent flyer miles I’d never use.</p>
<p>Actually never set up any kind of 529 plan through UPromise either, which is good because we would rather take the Education Tax Credits for 4 children for 11 straight years, which will probably total $34,000 in Education Tax Credits when we are finished. :)</p>
<p>And if you sign up for Upromise, this is in addition to any other rewards you get from your credit card company, right? You really don’t have to sign up for a Upromise credit card?
Can anyone link me to any official sites (other than Upromise itself) that prove that Upromise is legit?</p>
<p>No, it doesn’t matter if you’re already getting rewards from the credit card company and you don’t have to sign up for a Upromise CC. The next time you’re in a grocery store, look for the little U symbols on shelves for eligible products…btw, Upromise also has 529 plans and is affiliated with several state plans.</p>
<p>What more proof do you need? They’ve been around for quite a few years so you can google for info yourself. If you don’t want to sign up, just don’t do it!</p>
<p>Thanks. I definitely want to sign up - it sounds great. The rewards may be small, but you can’t argue with free!
I just need to convince the people with the credit cards.</p>
<p>Question: when the Upromise symbol is on the product, do you get a small reward even if you are not at a grocery store that supports Upromise?</p>
<p>Just an additional note, I signed up back when they first started, don’t have the U-Promise Credit card, but they used to let you input loyalty card numbers for relatives and friends with their permission. I don’t know if you can still do this, but I sent the email to all our close relatives whose kids were grown and who didn’t have grandchildren that could benefit in the future, so we also earn returns on loyalty cards for grandparents, aunts and uncles. Of course I would never link their credit cards, I have linked mine and have never had a problem. With youngest going next fall, I’ll withdraw the money, it might just be books for a semester or two, but it all helps. It took no extra work on the part of our relatives beyond responding to that initial email. Something to consider.</p>
<p>This entirely depends on how you use it, but it’s not a scam. I do have the credit card and have had it for quite a long time. I didn’t sign up for that card specifically. I’d had a card with that company since '88 and I called to see what loyalty programs they had (ie cash back, airline miles) and they told me about this. Same company, card, account, simply the upromise benefits. We don’t have it tied to a 529. We do have grocery cards registered. I have never shopped online with their retail partners. When I use the card to pay at the grocery I’ll get extra points for certain brands. Over several years we have over $2k. We can request a check withdrawl at any point which takes about 90 days to process.
So little/no work on our part, no overpaying at partner retail companies I’m not interested, for a gain of $2k. Not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but it will cover books for a couple of semesters.</p>
<p>I use a credit card that gives 1.5% cash back on everything with no minimums and no annual fee, if you tie it to a Fidelity account (which you can open for free).</p>
<p>The Upromise 2% back seems to have substantial restrictions:</p>
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<p>I think I’d rather get 1.5% on everything (including taxes, shipping, etc) instead of dealing with the restrictions of the UPromise card.</p>
<p>When I said “scam” I did not mean “not legit.” I meant that it is a gimmick to get people to buy certain goods through certain websites or at the grocery store.</p>
<p>Notrichenough added to the many reasons why there are better credit cards to use.</p>
<p>Yes, if you don’t have the spending habits or can not get relatives to sign up and contribute, then you might not do so well! We never bought online, we never went to certain restaurants etc. We only had 4 chain supermarkets on ours! That did not add up to very much at all. We never signed up for their 529 Plans, we wanted the Education Tax Credits, you can’t use the Education Tax Credits if you contribute to 529 Plans. </p>
<p>Overall if you enroll & do have the spending habits when a child is a newborn, then it could be quite substantial! We never had those spending habits! It is not a scam but you need to spend your money in their way to add money to the Upromise account.</p>