As college students with so much going on one place that we seem to spend a large amount of time is in our cars. Between going back and forth from home to my dorm, driving to spend time with friends or family, going shopping or running errands and working I feel like I'm always there. So what if I told you that you could earn extra cash in the form of gift cards, simply by driving your car?

If someone had told me this a few month ago, I would have definitely not imagined that such a thing could exist. However, when another writer in my Odyssey community introduced me to an app called Mile Up, I realized that such a thing did in fact exist.

So what exactly is Mile Up? Mile Up is a mobile phone app that you can download via your cell phone's app store. After a very quick and easy set up you will then be able to gain points for every mile that you drive!

As miles are converted into points you are able to keep track of them within the app, as well as see how many points you have currently earned and what that translates into dollars. After you rack up 4,000 points you get to do the most exciting part of using the app, convert those points into a gift card. By checking out the gifts page you are able to see the gift cards you can earn. 4,000 points will equate to a five dollar gift card to a variety of different establishments including Amazon, Wal-Mart, Target, Dominos and quite a few others.

Of course, at this point, some people may be feeling a bit disappointed. 4,000 points definitely sounds like a lot and five dollars doesn't seem like much. However, I have actually been surprised at just how fast that these points really do rack up, especially if you commute regularly or drive long distances. Even though five dollars may not be a lot, my philosophy is that five dollars are definitely better than no dollars, especially as a college student.

There are also fun little "challenges" that you can partake in in order to earn extra points for your account. These range from driving to specific locations to driving a certain amount of miles in a certain amount of time.

After using this app for a few weeks, I definitely feel that it is worth it to download it. Though you definitely won't be using it as a source of income by any means, it is a really nice way to essentially get paid for doing something that you already do most days anyway. I also think that as this app grows, many new feautres will continue to roll out and more companies may add gift card compensation as well, giving you more freedom to choose your rewards. Overall I would definitely recommend Mile Up to college students or other frequent drivers.