Shoe Leather: Behind the seams of Shoestring Magazine

Free Money: Paying Off Student Loans, or Saving For College

Melissa threw a little BBQ this evening and our chatter turned to the high cost of "higher" education. Most of our peers are stuck with massive student loans, and have straddled a decade or two of debt. (I should know: I spent one year at Bennington College, infamous for the Cosby Show episode where it was pegged as the most expensive school in the US.) I was chatting with one of the guests, and he was lamenting his unsubsidized student loans. As it turns out, he was unaware of UPromise.com, the service best known for letting you save for a child's college education. Lesser known -- but equally as important -- UPromise lets you hack away, little by little, at your student loan debt.

Here's how it works:

1) Sign up for an account.

2) Shop online.
Every time you click and make a purchase through a UPromise affiliate, a portion of your order (between 1% and 25%) goes into a fund to transfer to your student loan.

3) Register your grocery card or drugstore card with your UPromise account.
Use your registered grocery or drugstore card at checkout and get 1% - 5% back into your fund.

4) Choose your meals out effectively.
Eat at a preferred Restaurant and earn up to 8% of your bill in college savings rewards when you pay with a credit card you register at UPromise

5) Book travel with purpose.
Visit the Travel section of UPromise.com to find participating car rental companies and travel sites, when you book a rental car or hotel through UPromise and earn a dollar amount or percentage back.

6) Buy a home.
If you are buying or selling a home, consider going through CENTURY 21, Coldwell Banker, or an ERA office, and you can get up to $3,000 back from UPromise for your student loans.

7) Shop strategically.
Shop at select merchants (online retail stores and catalogs) and you can earn between 1% and 6% back.

8) Register for a rewards credit card.
UPromise even offers a credit card. Each purchase you make earns a bare minimum of 1% back, and grocery and drug store purchases can earn you up to 10% back.

Think about it: with a little extra effort, you can earn money back on the same purchases you make every day. That really is free money.

~Meghan

Free Money: Mental Floss $50,000 Tuition Giveaway

Thanks to my good friend and former writer, Karen English, for the intro to this awesome magazine, Mental Floss (edited by her brother, Jason, whom I hope to meet someday).

Mental Floss is currently hosting a $50,000 tuition giveaway contest (five awards of $10,000 each) on their site, for use towards tuition and books during the Fall 2009 semester.

Here's the deal, from the horse's mouth:

"In 750 words or less, explain why you (as the most deserving person on the planet) should win a $10,000 prize for tuition/books in the fall of 2009. That’s it! The contest is open to full-time students pursuing an undergraduate degree at an accredited two-year or four-year college or university in the U.S. or Canada in the fall of 2009. (Applicants must turn 18 by August 15, 2009.) The contest closes on January 31, 2009, and full details can be found at tuitiongiveaway.com."

Sadly, graduate students (or those wondering if, given this economy, they should spruce up their resumes and/or GRE / GMAT / LSAT / MCAT scores) aren't eligible, but you can always subscribe to the magazine anyway to increase your intellectual capital (and base of fun, random facts for bar conversation). Enjoy—I know I do.

Love smart, independent media? Support Shoestring, Bargainista.com, and Mental Floss by subscribing to the print version of Mental Floss through Magazines.com. A portion of every subscription goes to support the very blogs you are currently reading. And they say it's hard for one person to make a difference. Poppycock.