BeFrugal Review 2023: Pros, Cons and Is It Worth It?

Full BeFrugal Review

BeFrugal was founded in 2009 as a coupon website. It wasn’t until two years later in 2011 that they began offering cash back on purchases.

Today, you can find cash back offers and coupons at over 5,000 online stores. With so many cash back options, it’s safe to say that you can save money every time you shop.

BeFrugal offers a wide variety of options to redeem your cash back. Many cash back websites only offer gift cards and PayPal. However, BeFrugal allows you to redeem your cash back via direct deposit to your bank account, PayPal, Venmo, mailed check, and gift cards.

You may be wondering, how does BeFrugal make money? Like any cash back service, BeFrugal makes money by earning an affiliate commission at the stores you shop at.

For example, when you click on a link to Walmart.com from the BeFrugal website, you are clicking on an affiliate link. When you purchase at Walmart, BeFrugal will earn a percentage of the purchase as a commission.

BeFrugal then gives you a portion of that commission back in the form of cash back. As a result, both you and BeFrugal are winners. BeFrugal gets their cut, and you get yours.

Overall, BeFrugal is a great cash back service. And most importantly, it’s completely free.

Getting started is easy. It takes less than 30 seconds to sign up for a new account, and when you use any of the BeFrugal links on this review, you’ll earn a $10 sign up bonus after you’ve earned $10 worth of cash back. That’s easy!

BeFrugal is best for you if

• You shop online a lot — If you are already doing a lot of online shopping, why not use BeFrugal to earn cash back? BeFrugal is completely free and easy to use. You are doing yourself a great disservice by not saving money using BeFrugal (or any cash back service).
• You use coupon websites — If you are already spending time finding coupons for your online shopping, you can benefit from BeFrugal. BeFrugal has 1000’s of coupons for various stores. And the best part? All the coupons are organized and easy to find on their website. Alternatively, you can use the BeFrugal Button browser extension and have coupons automatically applied to your purchase.
• You want to start saving money, but don’t want to spend time finding coupons and deals manually — I’ll be the first to admit that having to manually find coupons and deals online can be time-consuming and not worth it. However, the BeFrugal Button browser extension automates the process for you. When you shop online, the BeFrugal Button will automatically find the best cash back offers and coupons and apply them to your purchase.

Ways to earn with BeFrugal

• Cash back shopping — The most common way to make money on BeFrugal is to earn cash back while shopping online. You must be logged into your BeFrugal account to earn. Click on the Shop Now button on any of the 5,000+ retailers on the website. Alternatively, you can just use the BeFrugal Button browser extension and shop online without having to first visit the BeFrugal website.
• Coupons — Coupons are another common way for you to save money using BeFrugal. There are a few specific coupon categories, such as restaurant coupons, printable coupons, grocer coupons, and more. These coupons can be found from the main navigation bar under the Coupons option. Alternatively, the BeFrugal Button browser extension will automatically apply coupons to your order during checkout. This will save you time from having to go to the website first.
• Deals — Deals are a special category on BeFrugal that show you sales on items across the internet. For example, a 12-piece Cuisinart cookware set was $420 but is now only $131. On top of the sale, you can also get 12.5% cash back on the purchase. That’s a ton of saved money!
• Restaurants — It can sometimes be hard to find coupons for restaurants. Perfect for you, BeFrugal has an entire section on its website dedicated to restaurant coupons and cash back offers. Find deals at popular restaurants, including Applebees, Outback, Red Lobster, Chilis, Chiptope, and many more.
• Referrals — BeFrugal’s referral program allows you to earn $10 for every friend you refer to join BeFrugal.

BeFrugal alternatives

There are several alternatives to BeFrugal. Many of these services can be used in addition to BeFrugal, instead of replacing it completely.

For example, TopCashback doesn’t have to replace BeFrugal, it can be used to find more cash back deals than what BeFrugal offers.

In any case, here are all of the BeFrugal alternatives:

• Rakuten (See full review here) — The best alternative to BeFrugal
• TopCashback (See full review here) — Another great alternative to BeFrugal
• Ibotta (See full review here) — Best for cash back on groceries
• Honey — (See full review here) Best for shopping online and finding automatic coupons
• Swagbucks (See full review here) — Best if you want to earn by shopping and other activities
• iConsumer (See full review here) — Earn cash back + stocks when shopping online

BeFrugal top features

Here are BeFrugal’s top features. These are extra ways to earn cash on top of the normal ways you can earn with BeFrugal, such as cash back shopping and coupons.

Bonus Cash Back

Bonus Cash Back stores at BeFrugal are stores that are offering a bonus rate. The bonus rate will give you more cash back than the original rate.

For example, Aeropostale is currently on the Bonus Cash Back stores list. The original cash back rate for Aeropostale was 4%. But, since the store is on the bonus list, it has a bonus rate of 12%. That’s 3x the cash back!

You can find many stores on the Bonus Cash Back list, including popular retailers like Amazon, Macy’s, Walmart, Target, and more.

You can even shop name brands such as Coach, Oakley, and Ray-Ban.

Refer-a-Friend

You can earn $10 for every friend that you refer to BeFrugal. On top of that, your referral will also earn a $10 bonus.

To qualify, the only thing your referral needs to do is earn $10 in cash back. This shouldn’t be difficult if they are actually using BeFrugal to shop online.

You can invite your friends to join BeFrugal using your unique referral link. Your link is automatically generated for you when you create your BeFrugal account.

To access it, click on the orange link at the very top of the website that says Refer-a-Friend & Get $10.

You can also email your link to a friend, post a banner on your website, or share it on Facebook and Twitter.

BeFrugal Button

The BeFrugal Button is a browser extension exclusively for Google Chrome.

BeFrugal Button allows you to shop online the way you normally do. When you visit a site with cash back offers or coupons, BeFrugal will notify you in the browser.

At checkout, the BeFrugal Button will automatically apply the best cash back and coupon combination to your purchase to save you the most money.

It’s completely free to use.

BeFrugal Mobile App

The BeFrugal mobile app is available for both Apple iOS and Android.

The app allows you to earn cash back, coupons, and deals on the go. You never have to miss a cash back opportunity again.

If you use your phone to shop instead of a computer, you’ll definitely want to download it.

BeFrugal Best Cash Back Rate Guarantee

BeFrugal’s Best Cash Back Rate Guarantee is a promise by BeFrugal to match the cash back rate of another rewards site if it’s higher.

To take advantage of this guarantee, you’ll need to meet a few requirements.

For example, you’ll need to provide an exact link to the competitor’s website with the higher cash back rate.

You’ll also need to include the store name, and if you already purchased an item, the order receipt.

BeFrugal calculators

BeFrugal has a few helpful calculators that can help you make more informed decisions, they are:

• Fly or Drive Calculator
• How Much to Spend on a Car
• Electric Car Calculator

Although these calculators don’t require you to be a member of BeFrugal, they’re still a cool feature that helps BeFrugal stand out.

How you get paid

BeFrugal has a variety of great options for redeeming cash back. They also have no minimum payouts for direct deposits, PayPal, and Venmo. This is unusual given most cash back services have higher payment minimums.

I’ll go into more details about each payout method, but here is a quick list of what BeFrugal offers:

• Direct deposit
• PayPal
• Venmo
• Check
• Gift cards

Direct deposit

You can choose to receive your cash back as a direct deposit into your bank account.

The payout minimum for direct deposit is $0.01, which means you can essentially request your cash back whenever. There are no high payout thresholds.

All you need to do is provide your bank’s routing number and account number to BeFrugal when requesting a payment via direct deposit. The deposit will take between 1–3 business days to hit your bank account.

PayPal

A direct bank deposit will typically take between 1–3 business days for cash back to hit your account.

However, if you have a PayPal account, you can get your cash back instantly using PayPal’s instant transfer.

Keep in mind, PayPal’s instant transfer does charge a 1% fee on the transaction. If you transfer $20 from your PayPal to your bank, you will be charged $0.20. This means you will receive $19.80 into your bank account.

This may or may not be worth it, depending on how quickly you need your money.

The minimum payout threshold is only $0.01 if you request payment via PayPal.

Venmo

Like PayPal, Venmo also has an instant transfer feature that allows you to get your cash back instantly without waiting 1–3 business days.

The instant transfer fee is 1% of the total transaction, which may be worth it if you are in a rush to get your cash.

If you are not in a rush, you can initiate a normal transfer and wait 1–3 business days. You’ll keep 100% of your BeFrugal cash back redemption this way.

The minimum payout threshold is only $0.01 if you request payment via Venmo.

Check

If you choose to receive your cash back payment via a check, you’ll need to reach the $25 minimum payout.

Checks can be convenient if you don’t have a PayPal or Venmo account and don’t feel comfortable adding your bank information to BeFrugal for a direct deposit.

However, you will need to give your mailing address to BeFrugal. Check’s can take up to 2 full weeks to arrive in your mailbox, so if you’re in a rush, you may want to consider another option.

Gift card

Gift cards are the final payout option available to you on BeFrugal.

You’ve got about a dozen different gift card options available from some of the most popular retailers including:

• Walmart
• Amazon
• Starbucks
• Nike

You can also redeem for a Visa® Prepaid Card, which can be used anywhere.

The minimum payment for gift cards is $5. The Amazon gift card has a $10 minimum payment.

Get started using BeFrugal

Getting started earning cash back with BeFrugal is easy and takes less than 30 seconds. Here are the steps.

Create your account

Here are the exact steps you’ll need to take to create your BeFrugal account.

Once your account is created, you can immediately begin taking advantage of thousands of cash back offers, coupons, deals, and more.

Step 1: When you land on the BeFrugal signup page, you’ll see that you have a few different options to join. You can join with your email, Facebook, or Google.

Choose the option most convenient for you. If you choose to sign up with your email, you’ll also need to create a password. You don’t need a password if you create your BeFrugal account with Facebook or Google.

Step 2: That’s it! Yes, it’s really that simple. You don’t even need to confirm your email address.

Now you can jump right into earning cash back, finding coupons, and getting the best deals.

Start earning cash back

Now that you’ve successfully registered your BeFrugal account, it’s time to start earning.

First, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with the BeFrugal website. The better you can navigate the website, the quicker you can find the best deals, coupons, and cash back offers.

The BeFrugal homepage is where you’ll find some of the best daily deals, online coupons, restaurant coupons, and cash back offers.

If you want a general overview of the best deals on the internet for the day, just look through the offers on the homepage.

If you’d like to find deals and coupons for a specific store or restaurant, you can either use the website’s search bar or navigate to the appropriate page using the navigation menu.

For example, say you wanted to find some cash back deals for a new computer. You would hover over the Stores option on the navigation bar, and click on Computers.

You’re taken to a page that displays all of the current cash back offers at various electronics stores.

These stores include Amazon, Best Buy, Office Depot and OfficeMax, HP, Dell, and much more.

Each store will show you how much cash back is offered. When you’re ready to shop, click on the Shop Now button to be redirected to the store.

Once your purchase is complete, you’ll receive cash back to your BeFrugal account, typically within 7 days.

Browsing the website is just one way to find the best cash back offers, coupons, and deals. You can also download the BeFrugal browser extension for Google Chrome.

The browser extension will automatically apply coupons and cash back to your orders while you are shopping online.

Here’s how it works. Let’s say you want a new pair of shoes from Nike.com. Instead of going to the BeFrugal website first to be redirected to the Nike website, you would simply go directly to Nike.com.

When you are shopping on Nike.com (or any of BeFrugal’s 5,000+ stores), BeFrugal will alert you whenever there are coupons or cash back offers. At checkout, BeFrugal automatically applies the best combination of cash back and coupons to your purchase.

The browser extension is great because it can save you a lot of time. Since you don’t have to go to the BeFrugal website first, you won’t be wasting time or getting distracted with other cash back offers.

Is BeFrugal worth it?

Yes, BeFrugal is definitely worth it.

It’s 100% free and easy to use. Why wouldn’t you want to save money and earn cash back for purchases you’d be making anyway?

Since BeFrugal has over 5,000 stores with cash back offers and coupons, you could be saving hundreds of dollars per year at your favorite stores.

So, what do you have to lose? Getting started is easy. Sign up in under 30 seconds, earn a $10 bonus just for signing up, and start saving money and getting cash back immediately.