Microinvesting is a whole new way to save for college education. It works like this: a company called BabyMint helps you to accumulate money for college expenses by registering and buying things at your usual merchants and on your usual credit cards. This is a great example of microinvesting - investing very small amounts over a long period of time. Not to be taken lightly, the Investment Company Institute estimates that 35% of the dollar value of consumers' daily purchases could be made available to these "spend and save" programs.

It works quite simply-you sign up for free and shop online or by using a special BabyMint credit card. As you spend at the affiliated merchants, you get dollars which can either sit in an account or be transferred into a Section 529 plan to use for college expenses. BabyMint rebates a portion of the purchase price up to 20%, depending on each merchant.

BabyMint allows you to invest in any 529 plan or receive your rebate checks directly to invest how you see fit.

Below you'll find some points excerpted from the BabyMint website. Since the program changes frequently by adding new merchants and new ways to save for college it is a good idea to go directly to their site for details and to sign up.

BabyMint.com
1-877-BABYMINT
1-877-222-9646

BabyMint's proprietary "savings engine" enables individual investors to save towards a child's college tuition without incurring out-of-pocket expenses. Conservative estimates show that by depositing rebates on everyday purchases into their educational savings accounts consumers can save as much as $50,000 towards their child's education through BabyMint, depending upon when they enroll.

How Does BabyMint Work?

Parents, family and friends register with BabyMint at no cost and then receive up to a 25% rebate on everyday purchases made through the company's network of 700 retailers, or when they redeem BabyMint coupons at more than 127,000 grocery stores and mass merchandisers nationwide. BabyMint members can "shop and save" in the following ways:

Online Shopping
Off-Line Shopping
Print-your-own Manufacturers' Coupons to use anywhere
Gift Certificates
Service Providers (like your long distance)
Credit Card Purchases

Through each of these transaction methods, BabyMint automatically tracks retailer and product rebates and deposits them into the consumer's tax-free 529 account or Coverdell ESA. Conservative estimates show that by investing rebates on everyday purchases (a concept know as "microinvesting") into their educational savings accounts consumers can supplement their traditional savings by as much as $50,000 through the BabyMint program.

While there are other microinvesting program out there, I recommend BabyMint because it allows you to invest your savings in whatever investment plan you wish.

Go forth and save for college!

Jordan E. Goodman is America's Money Answers Man. He is a regular contributor to Public Radio International's The Marketplace Morning Report and appears frequently on NBC's The Today Show, PBS, MSNBC, CNN, CNBC, and Nightline. For 18 years, Mr. Goodman was on the editorial staff of Money magazine, where he served as Wall Street correspondent, in addition to his role as weekly financial analyst on NBC News at Sunrise for 9 years.

He is the author of Everyone's Money Book (over 200,000 copies sold) with 6 special focus editions on College, Credit, Financial Planning, Real Estate, Retirement Planning and Stocks, Bonds and Mutual Funds and the co-author of Barron's Dictionary of Finance and Investment Terms.

His website MoneyAnswers.com is full of resources, tips and strategies you can use to build a solid financial future.