(NOTE: All of the BeFrugal links in this post are affiliate links and do pay me a small amount – you don’t have to use them but if you do I am grateful for your support)
So I got an interesting note in the mail from BeFrugal.com the other day.
Over at BeFrugal, they are running a refer-a-friend promotion. For every friend that you refer, you will get $20 and your friend gets $10. I haven’t seen much press about this (though it’s possible I just missed it)
Official terms and conditions of the offer:
BeFrugal.com Refer-a-Friend program allows for members to receive a monetary reward for participating in the bonus program. During the period of October 16, 2014 – December 31, 2014, BeFrugal members will earn a $20 bonus for each qualified new member they refer through the BeFrugal.com Refer-a-Friend program. In turn, each qualified new member referred through the Refer-a-Friend program will earn a $10 Sign-Up bonus. Current BeFrugal.com members are not eligible as new referrals and cannot earn a Sign-Up bonus. To qualify for a bonus, new referrals must click on your unique Refer-a-Friend link and sign up as a BeFrugal.com member through that click through. . New members must also confirm their BeFrugal.com account and earn $25 or more in Cash Back (not including bonuses and earnings from non-purchase activity) within 90 days of account creation. Accounts will be terminated and bonuses forfeited for improper abuse of the Refer-a-Friend program, including, but not limited to: using search engine sponsored listings or any other paid advertising; creating multiple accounts for one individual; posting your referral link on merchant site, merchant’s social media page or other similar activity; impersonating BeFrugal.com; spamming web forums and other online properties. Determination of bonus eligibility will be at the sole discretion of BeFrugal.com.
Here’s my take on it:
- Program goes from October 16 – December 31
- New members have to sign up accounts through your referral link and earn $25 in Cash Back (not counting the free $10 that they’ll get)
- Existing accounts can’t count as “new” accounts (obviously?)
- There are a couple of things that will forfeit your bonus and/or get your account terminated
Easy $30?
So my first thought for an easy $30 is that while I have an existing account at BeFrugal, and am therefore not eligible, my wife does NOT have an account. So I could sign her up, have her make a few purchases, and then she’d get $10 (and I’d get $20)
Of course, then the wheels kept turning…
Taking it to the next level
I just can’t help it – whenever I see a promotion like this, I can’t help but start thinking about how to maximize it. While the terms and conditions do explicitly say your cashback might be terminated for “creating multiple accounts for one individual”, that’s where my mind goes.
YMMV of course, but you could buy Amex cards and liquidate them, and with the extra cashback, it would make it even more of a moneymaker. You might be also able to go through BeFrugal to buy Visa gift cards at Staples, though I’m not sure that will count for cashback. Depending on how hard it is to liquidate your BeFrugal cashback, you could always not even worry about the $10 bonus from your new account – just get the $20 from the referral account.
Anyways, I’m not sure if this is something that I’ll pursue, but I might on a limited-scale (after all, there ARE 8 of us in the family and we all need accounts, right?!?). What about you? Feel free to leave your BeFrugal referral codes in the comments.
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Dan Miller travels with his wife and 6 (SIX!) children. He loves to help families travel for free / cheap, especially larger families. If you are looking for help, drop him an email at 
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