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College costs are rising faster than ever, and it’s not just college, everything seems to be more expensive these days. You might even be wondering where to start. There are a number of creative ways you can save money for college, some even painlessly. One such way is by taking advantage of rewards apps. These are apps that offer you cash for completing activities you probably already do every day anyway, so why not get paid and put the money towards a college fund.
When you use these apps, you earn cash, points or credits that can be redeemed to help pay for college expenses. If you set aside a few minutes each day, you can start building up a fund without even feeling like you are doing much. By incorporating these apps into your daily routine, you can start to slowly build up a college fund that can one day make a meaningful dent in a tuition bill.
Saving for College
Saving for college might be the last thing you have time to do, especially with rising costs and all the other expenses that come with daily life. After paying for rent, food, utilities, car payments, etc, it can be difficult to find money to put in a college savings account. However, if you are creative in the ways you save, you can and should be able to find the money to pay for a good education.
Budgets always seem to be tight, too tight to find money to set aside for college, but that’s where rewards apps can help. They help you find money outside your normal income and without feeling like you’re having to sacrifice anything. By incorporating these apps into your daily routine, you can earn and save without compromising your other expenses or needs.
How Rewards Apps Can Work for You
Rewards apps offer you compensation in the form cash, points, discounts or gift cards for completing activities or taking advantage of offers. Many times, these activities or offers are something you would already be doing anyway – for free, so why not get paid for them? Do you shop online, like to share your opinions in surveys, or watch videos, if so, you could be earning rewards for these activities.
Most rewards, while individually small, will add up over time and can be redeemed to help cover future educational expenses. Every dollar earned is one less dollar in tuition you will have to pay or maybe even borrow, so it’s worth giving it a try.
Seamlessly Save with Upromise®
Upromise is an app designed to help you save for college with little effort and a lot of ease. They offer multiple ways to save. One way is by creating a Upromise account and shopping online or playing mobile games to earn rewards. Get a $30 welcome bonus just for signing up, if within 30-days of sign-up you both verify your email address and connect your 529 account. Keep the account active for another 30 days and you’ll find the $30 automatically deposited into your account. Remain active on the site and see regular monthly deposits into your account for rewards earned. The more active you are, the more you can earn.
Another way Upromise helps you save is through the Upromise® World Mastercard®. Earn 1.529% cashback rewards on purchases you would normally make anyway when your credit card is linked to your 529 account. Cashback rewards are automatically deposited monthly into your account.
If you would normally spend $1,000 a month on say groceries and gas, with 1.529% cashback, you would earn $15.29 a month towards your college savings account. While not much, it will add up over time and before you know it, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with what you’ve achieved and how much you saved by just spending what you would have normally spent anyway.
According to the Upromise website if you fully take advantage of both the credit card and the earned rewards for partner purchases and mobile games, you could nearly double your savings over 18 years, taking what might have been just $23,000 in savings alone to nearly $42,000 with savings, a 529, a Upromise World Mastercard and an active Upromise account combined. It doesn’t get much simpler than that.
More Popular Rewards Apps That Can be Used for College Savings
There are quite a few rewards apps to choose from but here are a few to give you an idea where you can save for college in creative and easy ways:
Swagbucks ®
- Earn points by completing surveys, watching videos, or shopping online.
- You can convert these points into PayPal cash, which can then be deposited into your 529 plan.
- Make it a habit to set a daily goal to earn points during your downtime, like while watching TV or waiting in line.
MyPoints ®
- Get rewarded for shopping at partner stores, answering surveys, or even browsing email promotions.
- Redeem your rewards as PayPal cash and use them to boost your college fund.
- MyPoints makes everyday routines like shopping or reading emails more rewarding.
InboxDollars®
- Earn cashback when you play online games, take paid surveys, read emails or shop online.
- After earning at least $30 you can redeem your rewards to your PayPal account or even receive a check.
- Regularly check for new opportunities as there are new offers and activities being added daily.
Rakuten ®
- Earn cashback when you shop at your favorite stores, whether online or in-person.
- Easily transfer your cashback earnings to PayPal, then funnel those funds into your savings account or 529.
- Install Rakuten’s browser extension for automatic cashback and savings when you shop online.
Ibotta ®
- Save money on groceries and daily purchases by earning cashback when you shop.
- Link your Ibotta account to PayPal for quick and hassle-free transfers into your college savings funds.
- Maximize your savings by combining Ibotta offers with store sales and coupons, it adds up fast.
Turning Rewards into College Savings
After you’ve earned your rewards completing activities and offers, you’ll want to redeem those rewards into actual dollars to put in a college savings fund. It’s as easy as 1-2-3:
1. Convert Rewards
It’s not uncommon for apps to require you to earn a certain dollar amount in rewards before you are able to redeem them. Check the terms of each app so you can plan for redemption when you meet the threshold and when you can, redeem your rewards.
2. Deposit Funds into Your Bank Account
Most likely you will need a PayPal account to receive your rewards as cash. From your PayPal account you should be able to transfer those rewards to your bank account. Make sure that everything is set up accurately to prevent in delay in moving the funds.
3. Contribute to a 529 Plan
Now that the money is in your bank account, you can transfer it into a 529 college savings account. With a 529 account you can grow that money tax free, as long as you plan to use it for qualified educational expenses. This is why it’s important to redeem your rewards as often as you can, the sooner you move that money into a 529, the more time it has to grow.
Tips for Success
- To ensure you are moving money regularly into the 529, set up automatic transfers. This will help you consistently contribute before you might be tempted to use the money elsewhere.
- Sign-up and use multiple apps. This will increase your opportunities to earn money for college. Popular apps include Upromise, Swagbucks, and MyPoints.
- Be sure to pay attention and watch your money grow. Seeing how each little bit adds up over time will help motivate you to stay active and continue earning rewards.
Why Every Little Bit Counts
Little by little you will watch your money grow, not only from your consistent deposits but also due to compound interest. So even a relatively small but consistent monthly deposit of say $20 earned from rewards apps will ultimately grow over time, and what started out as a seemingly small amount, will become so much more. Say for example your 529 plan earns 6% annually on average, after 18 years, that could be near $8,000. Just think of what that would cover at school - housing for a semester, tuition or textbooks and fees.
In addition to saving for college with rewards apps, don’t forget there are always scholarships to apply for. There are quite a few that only take a minute or two to submit, because they don’t require an essay, all you have to do is complete a simple form. Between scholarship money and rewards app cash, you can save quite a bit for college over time. A little time and effort could pay off big in the end.