Get Free Money From Acorns Found Money & Boost Your Savings

If you’ve recently signed up for Acorns, there’s a good chance that you only have $10 invested ($5 as the minimum initial investment and $5 from being referred).

On the positive side, an investment balance of $10 won’t get you targeted by Bernie Madoff-types. If you don’t invest more money though, your $10 will be eaten up by Acorns’s $1 monthly fee within a year.

One way to boost your balance is to refer some of your friends, but that leaves you reliant on them signing up. Another way to increase your balance without it costing you anything is to take advantage of Acorns Found Money.

How Acorns Found Money Works

Most of the Found Money offers work in the same way as a cashback portal. You log in to your Acorns account, click a link through to a retailer and make a purchase. That purchase gets tracked and you earn a percentage of that transaction which is added to your Acorns balance.

There are several Found Money partners that offer the same or better rates as cashback sites, but it’s always worth comparing the Acorns rate to those found on Cashback Monitor to ensure you get the best deal.

Free Money From Found Money

That’s all well and good, but earning cashback from most companies requires you making a purchase and I said that you could boost your Acorns balance without it costing you anything.

That’s because several Found Money partners offer cashback for transactions that don’t require a purchase. If you did the first five offers listed below, you’d more than quadruple your $10 opening balance.

There are other partners that could earn you hundreds of dollars more. Their usefulness will depend on your personal situation as they either involve working in the sharing economy or refinancing student loans. They’ll either earn or (potentially) save you money though, so they’re listed below too. You can sometimes get better cashback offers elsewhere, so those alternatives are also mentioned below.

Be aware that although Found Money is tends to track within a few days, it usually takes several months for your account to receive the credit. Many of the terms also mention clicking through from the Acorns app; it also works when clicking through from their website when you’re logged in.

One quick caveat: the offers below involve you providing valid contact information. At the very least, that means you’ll start getting emails from them until you unsubscribe. It’s likely that you’ll also receive a phone call and/or physical mail, so it’s up to you whether this free money is worth your effort.

If you’d like to sign up for Acorns then feel free to use one of our links below. You’ll earn $5 as will we:

• Stephen’s link
• Greg’s link
• Nick’s link 

With all that said, here are all the current Acorns partners where you can earn free money through their Found Money program.

1) Liberty Mutual

Found Money

• $5 (possibly up to $10 for two transactions).

Key Terms

• $5 is earned per auto or home insurance quote received.
• Click the Partner link in the Acorns app and immediately complete the transaction.
• Limitations – none.
• Promotion lasts until January 1, 2020 (although it could be extended).

Quick Thoughts

$5 for an auto and/or home insurance quote is good seeing as Liberty Mutual is a major insurer and there’s no obligation to take out a policy in order to earn the $5 Found Money.

There are no limitations, so I think the $5 could be earned on both an auto and home insurance quote, so a total of $10. You may be able to earn the $5 several times if you need quotes for several vehicles, although you might be better off with a multi-car discount rather than insuring separately.

Be aware though that you might be able to get better cashback rates elsewhere. Liberty Mutual is on Ebates, BeFrugal and ShopAtHome, with the latter offering even higher rates than Acorns Found Money.

2) Billshark

Found Money

• $10 (with a $25 bonus – see below for more details).

Key Terms

• Click the Partner link in the Acorns app and successfully enroll in the Billshark program. An enrollment is defined as providing a valid bill copy, email address, DOB, last four digits of social security number and a valid method of payment.
• Limitations – You’re only eligible for one contribution with this partner.
• Must complete registration on the same device within the same session.

Quick Thoughts

Billshark is a service that contacts cable, satellite, internet, wireless and home security companies on your behalf to reduce your monthly bills. It doesn’t cost you anything if they don’t save you money on your bills, but if they do then their cut is 40% of the amount saved.

Most of you are probably cringing at the thought of paying 40% of a bill’s savings when you could call the companies yourself and keep 100% of the savings. However, there are plenty of people who hate calling retention teams, so this type of service could be ideal for them.

In addition to the $10 in Found Money, Billshark is currently offering an extra $25 reward when signing up.

3) John Hancock Vitality

Found Money

• $5

Key Terms

• Receive a customized life insurance quote.
• To obtain a Quote you must click on the John Hancock Vitality link at the Acorns website or within the Acorns mobile application, provide valid contact information including all the information necessary to obtain a Quote and click “Let’s Begin” on the John Hancock Landing Page.
• Obtaining a Quote, providing valid contact information including all the information necessary to obtain a Quote and clicking “Let’s Begin” does not obligate you to make a purchase with John Hancock or CPS.
• The Eligible Transaction is not an application for insurance.
• Limitations – One reward per customer
• This Promotion is not available to individuals residing in New York and North Dakota.
• Promotion lasts until August 9, 2018 (although it could be extended).

Quick Thoughts

This should be a quick $5 as it only took about a minute to enter the required information for a life insurance quote. I only just got the quote though, so it’ll likely be a few days before I find out if it’s tracked.

(As an aside, it’s interesting that John Hancock has teamed up with Vitality. When living in the UK, I worked for a health insurance company that eventually became part of Vitality. They offered some innovative ways to reduce your health insurance premiums by living a healthy lifestyle and earning points. It looks like they’re offering a similar scheme here to reduce your life insurance premiums, so I’m probably going to investigate this further.)

4) Haven Life

Found Money

• $5

Key Terms

• Click the partner link from Acorns and receive a life insurance quote from Haven Life.
• Must use same device when completing the information for the quote.
• Promotion lasts until December 31, 2018 (although it could be extended).
• Limitations – One quote per person per calendar year.
• This promotion is not available to individuals residing in the following states: Alaska, Arkansas, District of Columbia, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire, New York, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

Quick Thoughts

Getting a quote from Haven Life is probably the best of these Found Money offers as you don’t have to provide any contact information (the email address field is optional). It takes less than a minute to enter the required information, so this should be an easy $5 (I’m waiting for this one to track too).

5) Ethos

Found Money

• $5

Key Terms

• Clicking the Partner link in the Acorns app and obtain a personalized quote for Ethos.
• Completing an online quote does not obligate you to make a purchase.
• Limitations – One reward per customer.
• Promotion lasts until February 28, 2019 (although it could be extended).

Quick Thoughts

The terms of this Found Money offer are a little confusing. The specific terms state that you don’t have to take out a policy after getting a quote, but the initial description says the following (bolding mine):

You must tap below to receive a quote, and complete a new policy application in the same session to redeem.

I reached out to Acorns to clarify this and received the following reply:

As long as you receive a quote from Ethos and follow the rules and restrictions as stated in the Found Money page, you should definitely be eligible for the reward.

It appears that you therefore don’t have to apply for an Ethos life insurance policy in order to get the $5 payout.

Other Found Money Partners

As mentioned earlier, there are several other Found Money partners offering payouts without it necessarily costing you any money. These will have limited appeal, but are worth highlighting anyway in case they’re useful to you.

6) Airbnb

Found Money

• $200

Key Terms

• Click the Partner link in the Acorns app, register for an Airbnb Host account, and complete/host your first Airbnb guest.
• Your space must be listed for at least $75 a night.
• This promotion is only valid for new Airbnb Hosts.
• Promotion lasts until July 1, 2018 (although it could be extended).
• Limitations – One reward per customer.

Quick Thoughts

$200 for your first time becoming an Airbnb host is a pretty decent bonus.

It looks like Airbnb offer a refer-a-host program for existing hosts, but I’m not sure how much it offers new hosts (existing hosts get $100 per referral). Please share in the comments if you know how much new hosts receive if referred by existing hosts.

If you’re considering becoming an Airbnb host and think you’ll be in it for the long haul, you might get a better return with Delta. They’re offering up to 25,000 SkyMiles for new Airbnb hosts, although that upper earning limit requires $2,500 in host earnings, whereas the Acorns Found Money offer can be earned on the first transaction so long as the room/property has been listed for $75+.

Another option is Top Cashback which, at the time of writing, is offering $300 when someone checks into your Airbnb listing. There’s no further information than this, so there might be further requirements that you have to meet (e.g. minimum listing cost).

7) Uber

Found Money

• $15

Key Terms

• Click the Partner link in the Acorns app, register for an Uber Driver account, submit the online application, and complete Driver’s License Approval.
• This promotion is only valid for new Uber drivers.
• Promotion lasts until February 28, 2019 (although it could be extended).
• Limitations – One reward per customer.

Quick Thoughts

Driving for Uber is something more and more people seem to be doing, so you might as well earn a bonus if you’re thinking about signing up. Having said that, this Acorns partnership isn’t the best you can do.

When researching signup bonuses, all the examples I could find involved Uber guaranteeing your earnings on the first x number of drives rather than offering a cash signup bonus of a specific amount. I’d heard of $1,000 signup bonuses in the past, although it doesn’t look like Uber’s that profligate anymore.

Be sure to explore all your Uber Driver signup avenues before clicking through from Acorns as you could be leaving good money on the table. If you’re friends with any Uber drivers, they might be able to refer you with an offer that’s more mutually beneficial than just $15.

If nothing else, you can get $30 for your first Uber drive when signing up via BeFrugal rather than the $15 on offer here.

8) Uber Eats

Found Money

• $10

Key Terms

• Click the Partner link in the Acorns app and complete an Uber Eats Driver application with approved background check.
• This promotion is only valid for new Uber Eats drivers.
• You must sign up in the same session to redeem.
• Promotion lasts until December 31, 2018 (although it could be extended).
• Limitations – One reward per customer.

Quick Thoughts

At $10, the Uber Eats driver signup bonus is even lower than the Uber driver bonus. The same advice goes for this one – check all your Uber Eats driver signup bonus options (including being referred by friends who drive for Uber Eats) before signing up through Acorns.

9) Lyft

Found Money

• $25

Key Terms

• Click the Partner link in the Acorns app, complete the Partner’s full application process and consent to the background check at the end of that process to become a Lyft driver.
• Limitations – One reward per customer.
• Promotion lasts until April 30, 2018 (although it could be extended).

Quick Thoughts

Similar to the Uber and Uber Eats driver signup bonuses, earning $25 for becoming a Lyft driver isn’t a great bonus.

When researching Lyft driver signup bonuses, I came across one promo offering a $500 bonus after completing 150 rides in 45 days. That’s clearly a better bonus, but the terms are far more stringent. That’s an average of more than three rides per day if you were to be a Lyft driver every single day of that 45 day period.

You might be able to get a better referral bonus via an existing Lyft driver, so ask around in your circle. Alternatively, you can get $100 when signing up via TopCashback or 20,500 Swagbucks (worth $205) when signing up via Swagbucks.

10) Commonbond

Found Money

• $100

Key Terms

• A student loan refinancing transaction with Partner made by clicking the Partner link in the Acorns app, submitting the online application and receiving a loan distribution from Partner.
• Promotion lasts until October 1, 2018 (although it could be extended).
• Limitations – One reward per customer.

Quick Thoughts

I’ve never refinanced a student loan, so I’ve no idea what kind of fees are involved either through Commonbond or any other company that refinances student loans. However, if it’ll save you money long term (presumably due to a lower interest rate), getting an additional $100 could be worthwhile.

11) Earnest

Found Money

• $100

Key Terms

• Click the Partner link designated by Acorns within its mobile application and refinance your student loan with the application being immediately completed on the same mobile device from which such link was originally clicked.
• Promotion lasts until January 1, 2019 (although it could be extended).
• Limitations – One reward per customer.

Quick Thoughts

Same as the Commonbond Found Money offer, $100 for refinancing your student loan is worth it if you’ll also be saving money.

12) LendKey

Found Money

• $100

Key Terms

• Click the Partner link designated by Acorns within its mobile application and refinance your student loan with the application being immediately completed on the same mobile device from which such link was originally clicked.
• Offer valid for new LendKey customers.
• Promotion lasts until January 28, 2019 (although it could be extended).
• Limitations – One reward per customer.

Quick Thoughts

Same as Commonbond and Earnest above – grab the extra $100 if you’ll be refinancing your student loans anyway.

I noticed a couple of odd things with this offer when preparing this post. The terms stated that the promotion ended on January 28, 2018, but that was only a day after it started. It also mentioned that you need use a credit/debit card that’s already linked to your Acorns account. That seemed strange given that it’s for student loan refinancing.

I reached out to Acorns and they confirmed that the promotion actually ends on January 28, 2019 and that a credit/debit card doesn’t have to be linked.

13) SoFi

Found Money

• $100

Key Terms

• Establish a new federal or private student loan with Partner by clicking the Partner link in the Acorns app and immediately completing the transaction.
• Promotion lasts until January 2, 2019 (although it could be extended).
• Limitations – One reward per customer.

Quick Thoughts

Once again, the same goes for SoFi as it does for Commonbond, Earnest and LendKey – it’s worth earning an extra $100 if refinancing your student loan(s) will save you money compared to your existing loan(s).

That said, there’s a partnership between JetBlue and SoFi offering one TrueBlue point for every $2 you refinance, up to 50,000 points. There’s a good chance that’d provide better value than the $100 from Acorns Found Money.

Summary

These Acorns Found Money partnerships don’t always represent the best deal on offer, so be sure to always compare the amounts with those you can get elsewhere.

Some of these appear to be exclusive partners though, so can be a good way to increase the savings balance in your Acorns account without it costing you anything.

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