Free Money Fun!

Posted by Cent With Love | 12:53 PM | , | 0 comments »

Since Moneyfunk.net mentioned she'd love to learn about some free income if I stumbled upon any, I figured it was time to post about some of the "free money" I've been taking advantage of recently to help with my Debt Snowball. I hope to make this a regular feature as I learn about more and more deals.

The first Free Money I'd like to post about is the $50 Sharebuilder Bonus. I'm sure this is a well-known bonus to lots of the PF bloggers out there, but since I'm new and I didn't know about it, I figured there are others out there who also don't yet know about it. Plus, I wanted to make sure it was legit before recommending it. I don't feel comfortable recommending any deal that I haven't personally benefitted from. I can whole-heartedly recommend this deal since it has worked wonderfully for me three times.

Okay, onto the details:

  • Open an account at Sharebuilder.com for $5 ($1 stock plus $4 trading fee) and get a $50 bonus ($45 profit).
  • You may open an account and take advantage of the deal for each member of your family - I opened an account for myself, DH and DD.

That's pretty much it for the details. This is a good one to start out with if you're new to Free Money Deals. The risk is minimal ($5) and the reward is quite substantial ($45) for the amount of time invested (about 10 minutes).

Now, the step-by-step (ooh, baby) breakdown:

  1. Go to http://www.sharebuilder.com/ and click on Open an Account at the top near the Search bar
  2. In Account Type, select Individual Account (for yourself or spouse) or Custodial Account (for your children).
  3. Enter Promotional Code: CASH50 and Click Next
  4. In Your Information, select NO, you do not have another account
  5. Enter your personal information and select Create Account
  6. You will then come to a screen stating Congratulations! confirming your $50 Bonus and its deposit in 4-6 weeks - PRINT SCREEN of this screen or use FIRESHOT in Firefox - this is your proof of your Bonus!
  7. Click Create Account and select Basic Program. Click Next.
  8. Click Build My Account Over Time with and Automatic Investment Plan, Click Next
  9. Select Create your own Automatic Investment Plan
  10. Go HERE and find a stock that is under $1. Enter the Stock Symbol and the amount of $5.00 ($1 for the stock, $4 trade fee). Click Add to Plan. Click Next.
  11. Select Set My Investment Schedule. Set Investment Frequency as One-Time and select your investment day. Click Next.
  12. Fund Your Investment: Automatically. Enter your checking account information. Click Next.
  13. Check all of your info and click Create Plan.
  14. You should get a confirmation stating "Congratulations, you have created your Investment Plan". PRINT SCREEN or FIRESHOT
  15. That's It!!!

In my experience, Sharebuider is very good with sending email updates. Soon after completing the above, you should receive a Welcome email indicating your account has been opened. You should also receive an email once your deposit is received (the Monday before your scheduled investment day) and when your plan is set up.

Once your plan is set up, you should receive an email stating that you have Qualified for the Promotion and the $50 bonus will be deposited in your account in 4-6 weeks. Mark 6 weeks on your calendar, and if it's not deposited by this date, give Sharebuilder a call. This is why it's very important to keep records of everything along the way, just in case you ever have a problem.

Once the $50 hits your Sharebuider account, you can decide if you would like to keep it there and invest in further stocks, or you can just withdraw it and transfer to a bank account. This is what I did, but I also kept all of the $1 stocks that I invested in. Why? Because it's just $1, and I think it's fun to watch it go up and down. The $3 that I invested has turned into $5 and back down to $2.50. :)

If you have any questions at all, please leave a comment, and I'll do my best to answer. It seems like a lot of steps, but it's pretty straight-forward and goes quickly. 10 minutes = $45. Pretty good!

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