No Substitute for Saving

The pitch:

Tip:

There are a couple of Web sites thatoffer you a chance to save for collegeexpenses while you're spending money.One of the best known is Upromise (800-UPROMISE; www.upromise.com), inwhich you can register your credit, debit,and grocery club cards to have a percentageof everything you spend while usingthem swept into a 529 plan to help payfor college tuition. You'regoing to spend the money anyhow, sowhy not get some of it back for collegeexpenses? The deal's fine if you don't shellout money that you wouldn't ordinarilyspend and don't pile up credit card debt.If you do, interest charges could wipe outany savings. No matter how muchyou spend, a rebate program is no matchfor a well-planned savings strategy.