Have you ever heard of UPromise.com, a rewards program where you earn money for a college 529 plan by shopping online, eating at participating restaurants, and buying certain groceries at participating stores?

I signed up for the free program, created by student lending giant Sallie Mae, after I was married and before I even had a child, figuring it never hurts to start saving early. You have to register your credit cards on the site, but after that, the program is pretty easy to use, so long as you remember to shop through the UPromise portal, or choose to download a program that automatically kicks in any savings.

You can also ask your friends and family to sign up and divert money into your child's account too. I asked the grandparents once or twice but I didn't press the matter when they failed to sign up.

When the program first launched, I remember stories about how this revolutionary new rewards program will make a nice dent in college costs. But I'll be lucky if my earnings t will pay for a book or two by the time my progeny head to campus.

Over the weekend, I received my annual UPromise statement for 2010. My total savings? $32.85. My savings since 2002? Less than $300. That money has been transferred into a 529 college savings plan that is tied to my UPromise account. I just wrote a primer about these college savings plans in case you aren't familiar with them.

Fairly effortless money is nothing to scoff about. But it's certainly not taking the weight of college savings off of my shoulders.

Then there's the matter of which 529 plans are eligible to be tied to the program. I started out with the UPromise 529 plan managed by Vanguard. But I overlooked the $20 annual fee that's charged for the plan, no matter the balance, and knew I could do better. So I transferred the money I had in that plan to the New York 529 savings program, which is one of many state plans that interface with UPromise. Savingforcollege.com has a list, ratings included. It received 4.5 out of 5 graduation caps. But I would do your own research using this site or morningstar.com before signing up, paying careful attention to expenses and fees.

Since I started, UPromise has added new ways to redeem your rewards. You can pay down certain student loans, open up a savings account, or have the program cut you a check. I'd read the fine print in search of fees, but these might be better options, especially if you don't like the list of 529 plans that are linked with UPromise.