Saving up for a college fund is a luxury in today’s economy, so Upromise is turning the usual shopping trip, grocery run, and fill-up at the gas station into a daily opportunity to earn money for college. Upromise’s business model makes it easier for families to start saving for college early by making the most of what Americans do best— shop.

Upromise, going strong with 10 million members and nearly $500 million in member rewards, is one of the largest private sources of college funding contributions in the United States.

This is how the completely free program works: you start by creating an Upromise account and registering your credit, grocery, or loyalty cards. Then, you shop, shop, and shop as usual and make purchases at any of their participating 21,000 grocery and drug stores, 14,000 gas stations, 8,000 restaurants, thousands of retailers, and over 600 online shopping sites. A percentage of your purchase at these participating retailers and products goes directly into your Upromise account.

From your account, you can transfer savings over to a 529 college savings plan where you can decide where and how to invest the dollars your purchases earned you for your child’s education. You can use these rewards to save up for college, pay for an existing student loan, or you can opt for a check in the mail for college-related expenses.

If you’re not convinced yet of getting free money for college, Upromise’s $100,000 College Dream Sweepstakes should sweeten the deal. Upromise is giving away $10,000 to 10 lucky winners from now until August 21, 2009. To qualify, simply join Upromise and install Turbosaver, an online savings reminder tool.

Upromise is a simple and effective free rewards program to start earning savings for college early and easily. It takes no more effort than shopping as you usually do, unless you actively seek out Upromise merchants to accumulate savings faster. Either way, you earn savings in small, incremental ways that could add up to the cost of a textbook, part of your dorm rent, possibly even a year of tuition. Even friends and family can contribute to your Upromise savings the same way you do: simply have them register with Upromise, add their loyalty and credit cards, shop, shop, shop, and then direct their savings to go to your account.

The only downside is how slow it may take to accumulate savings. You aren’t likely to pay-off all the expenses of four years of tuition just by buying participating orange juice and butter products. The highest contribution percentage comes from shopping online with Upromise, providing members the opportunity to earn 1-25%. Participating restaurants also provide a significant savings opportunity with earning power of up to 8% of your total bill.

Upromise gets you cents and dollars to pad your college fund. The idea is not to save money for college by curbing spending habits, but how to make the most of the fact that if you are going to shop anyway, at least shop specific brands so you can earn some savings in return. Because free money for college, is still, free money for college.

As parents take a look at the current economic crisis, many are wondering about what kind of future their children will be facing. While there are no financial guarantees in this world, parents can give their children a boost in the right direction by providing them with sound financial guidance and education now, while they are still young. There are several programs being promoted right now to increase financial literacy in children, and parents can put several techniques to use to start teaching their children the value of a dollar right now.

1. Start when they are young, but not too young.

Very young children are probably not ready to handle the basic concepts of financial management, so it is best to wait until they are old enough to start receiving an allowance. By the time a child is around seven to eight years old, they should be able to start on the basics of proper money management and understanding how the system works.

2. Start small but lay the groundwork well.

Once a child is old enough, you can start teaching them some basic skills with their allowance. Help them to understand that performing work earns them money. If they don’t do it well, or if they don’t do it all, then they don’t get any money for that week. It is best to set up an allowance system that is actually based on real chores, rather than just given to the child. Otherwise, you are missing out on an opportunity to teach your child about the value of hard work.

3. Treat their allowance like a paycheck.

Expanding on the point above, if you treat your child’s allowance like a paycheck, this will give them a good foundation that will carry them throughout the rest of their lives. Set up a system where they will be paid a certain amount of money for doing certain tasks. Help them to understand that if they don’t get the job done, they won’t get their allowance. This simple message will get across loud and clear.

4. Teach them to spend and how to save.

Now that your child has an allowance, it’s time to teach how to spend it and how to put some aside. Try to work on getting them to put half of their money aside each week. For the other half, take them to a dollar store and have them pick out whatever they want. Then, put back the things that they cannot afford. This will teach them the value of a dollar and just how far it will and won’t go. If they want something they cannot afford, focus on teaching them about putting aside money until they can afford it.

5. Keep reinforcing these lessons.

Until the child reaches their teenage years, you can keep reinforcing these lesson. Once they get to around thirteen or fourteen, you can start to introduce more complicated lessons. For now however, getting the basics down about earning, spending and saving, will provide them with the knowledge they need to get started on a prosperous future.

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Young children simply do not grasp the concept of credit cards, but they are paying attention to their parents and watching how mom and dad are using a cute little plastic card in place of cash. When a child does not understand the concepts that go hand in hand with paying with plastic, they may get the wrong idea: A little plastic card spits out money like magic, giving the adults money any time they want it without any repercussions. It is absolutely vital that you nip these beliefs in the bud as quickly as you can, because as a parent, YOU are responsible for teaching your children about money, financial planning, and credit.

The concept that money coming out of the ATM actually comes from a bank account that has to be earned and fed into by working is one that many young children simply cannot understand without assistance. Likewise, it will be just as hard for them to understand that when you swipe your credit card at the grocer or another store, that you will eventually be getting a bill demanding that the money be paid back through hard work at your job.

Life these days has such an overwhelming electronic aspect to it, that children are having difficulty grasping the complexities behind how ATM machines, internet banking, credit cards and other financial concepts actually work, even when you explain them in the simplest possible terms. However, there are methods out there for teaching your children how to understand credit cards and what they have to offer. If your children learn to understand these concepts, and if they learn how to be monetarily responsible at a young age, then your children will grow up to be more fiscally responsible than if you do not teach them young.

- Make the learning process fun.

Teach your children about numbers and math and finances by showing them how to comparison shop and showing them how the grocery shopping process works. Explain as you go what is happening, including how you are paying for the groceries, and how much they cost. The more you make it fun by turning grocery shopping into an enjoyable learning experience, the more your child will want to learn about the process.

- Give your children an allowance.

If you give your child his or her own money for spending or saving, your child will begin to feel a real sense of responsibility for that money. This is true even if the allowance is small. Giving your child ideas on how he or she can spend or save that money will help inspire ideas for money management. Teach your child how to spend half and save half, and teach him or her benefits of saving money and how it can add up for bigger, better purchases in the future.

- Squelch the “I want it now!” mentality.

Teach your child to save, rather than giving in to his or her “I want it now!” demands, and your child will grow up with a much better sense of the benefits of saving rather than getting everything he or she wants right away (such as with credit cards).

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There are a lot of things that you need to educate your children about as they grow. Teaching them about money, and more importantly, the value of their credit score, is an important part of preparing them for their adult life. This is one of the most important lessons that we could ever pass on to our children, yet it is a lesson that is often neglected. If we teach our children about credit and money, we can help them to build responsible habits and behaviors for spending that will last them a lifetime and keep them from falling into debt before they ever have a chance to build a good credit history. Here are five tips for educating children on the importance of credit scores, credit reports and good spending habits.

1 - Start small by teaching young children about money management through their interactions with you.

Teach them by utilizing daily errand activities as small impromptu lessons about money and budgeting. Give your children pretend money, encouraging them to play store games. There are also numerous books that you can buy that are designed to teach children about money very early.

2 - Give a weekly allowance as a way to teach your children about spending responsibly and budgeting.

Pick a reasonable amount of money and give it to them in small denominations like $1 and $5 bills rather than a $20 dollar bill. Encourage your children to save a portion of their allowance every week by calculating the amount that could be saved in a month or in a year. Older children can benefit from opening a savings account which will educate them about deposits and withdrawals.

3 - Explain the difference to your children between wants and needs.

Encouraging your children to save and earn for something that they really want is a good way to teach healthy spending based on delayed gratification. Help your child keep accurate track of their money by giving them a chart and piggy bank incentives like $5 for every $20 that they save.

4 - When your child grows into a teen, you may consider giving them a prepaid credit card or access to a parent’s credit card.

This is a convenient way for you to introduce them to credit, but it might end up leading to startling monthly bills if your teenager is not careful. You should sit down with your teenager every month and show them how their spending is affecting your credit score so that they will understand how theirs would be affected.

5 - Students who have credit cards in college can find it difficult to handle their money because of the pressure that they have to spend on a limited income.

You need to teach your children early about responsible credit card use, debt and late payments and fines. Check their balances with them to help make sure that they stay on budget and take the time to go over their credit score and reports often to help them stay on track at all times even while away at college.

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