How to Make Money with InboxDollars – 2025 Edition

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I looked at my most recent blog post on InboxDollars, and it was woefully out of date. This is an updated post with information that was correct as of Dec. 29, 2024.

InboxDollars is a website that pays its users based on what they do on the site. You can make money with games, magic receipt redemptions, surveys, offers, web searches, Bingo and other promotions. Through December 29, 2024, I had made $199.69. For the time I’ve been on InboxDollars, I made $1009.00. It’s not riches, but it’s not chump change. But how can you make the same or more than I have?

The Daily List

The easiest way to make some small coins is to look at your daily list and complete it. I usually just made it through the first level of completion, which on some days included Answer and Learn, Add a Magic Receipts Deal, Deal of the Day, Daily Games, and Attempt a Survey. Some days, Daily Games is replaced by Earn from Offers. If you complete these five activities, you get the Scratch and Win boost from Answer and Learn, the attempt at a survey, and the Daily Games, and you get the two or three cent bonus from completing those first five objectives. It doesn’t take long to do these activities, and over the course of a month if you do these every day, you’ll have at least 60 cents if nothing else went right.

Answer and Learn is one, multiple choice poll question. Click on the appropriate bubble and you’re done. Click on Deal of the Day from the Daily List; visiting that page is all you have to do.

Magic Receipt Deal

The Magic Receipt Deal is also one click after you get to the appropriate page. Just select one of the deals, any one of the deals, and you’re done as far as the Daily List is concerned.

However, Magic Receipts can offer you much more than just the completion of your Daily List. If you save your receipts from places where you normally shop, you can earn cash back on the things you buy. The store has to be registered with InboxDollars, so most independent shops are out. However, chain grocery stores like Safeway are available.

You’ll need to take a picture of the receipt and upload it to the site. Look for the possible deals available, and choose them. Some deals are so good, you might be able to get the items for free. Just be sure to read the fine print. One year near Halloween, I got paid to get One Hundred Grand chocolate bars from Walgreens. Walgreens had them on sale and the redemption prize for two bars was about two cents more than the bars cost. It doesn’t happen often, but it’s nice when it does.

Daily and Free Games

I usually choose Solitaire for the Daily Games. They have some other choices, and they’re in the QuickPlay section on the Games page. Basically, you can play until the Scratch and Earn line has flashed and registered your play or until the game tells you that you’ve earned as much Scratch and Earn progress as you’re going to get that day. I usually stop in the shortest time possible, but I have played until I go the warning when I was trying to get through the Scratch and Earn faster.

The other games on this page will allow you to earn money, too. They are time sinks, so you’ll have to grind it out if you want to make any serious coin. Just make sure you’re choosing games that have a bonus with them and that you will enjoy. Also, watch for the time limits involving the various awards.

Earn from Offers

There are a lot of offers on this page, including the game offers. When I’m trying to make a quick cent, I go to the Content Discovery where I find something that allows me to look at an article for one cent. This is the easiest way to fulfill the Daily List requirement. It usually involves three or four clicks and a little time on the web page. Make sure to read the conditions and be ready to click on a second choice if the first one doesn’t pay out.

Attempt a Survey

The surveys are the bugaboo of the entire system because you never know what you’re going to get. Attempting a survey is easy. Find a survey you like and click on the link. The survey gets registered as attempted as soon as you get to the new website.

Completing a survey is much more difficult. You are likely to qualify for one in five surveys or fewer, which means that you’ve spent the time to look at four surveys and answer their preliminary questions only to get kicked back to the InboxDollars site. This will give you more Scratch and Win progress, but it will take up your time. Most surveys don’t pay minimum wage, so it’s important to understand how much time you’re willing to put into getting a $1 and whether 20 cents for five minutes is better than 75 cents for 20 minutes. If you’re just burning daylight, and can do them, it’s mostly no harm no foul.

Scratch and Earn

The Scratch and Win bar across the top is probably the most exciting thing about InboxDollars. As it progresses, it gives you the opportunity to win bonuses (not so great unless you use them) or up to $100. I haven’t won the $100, yet, but I have gotten 12 cents. It’s important not to miss this bar because it will only accumulate to the end, so you need to scratch the card before you earn more progress. I always let this fill up because it seems the best way to win $100. I haven’t done the math, though.

Billy Button

The Billy Button is a search engine add-on that will direct you to possible InboxDollars deals when you are on other web sites. I resisted adding this until a couple of days ago because I don’t want anyone tracking my wed browser history. But the Billy Button is needed if you’re going to complete your Daily task list to the fullest. It’s also useful for the Bingo game.

Web Searches

This is where I stack up the progress bar. There’s a limit to the number of searches you can do a day, but that’s okay. Searches not only fill up the Scratch and Win progress bar, they also can give you a bonus if you complete enough days in a row. If I need to search something, I go to InboxDollars first.

Bingo Game

Every month or so, InboxDollars has a Bingo game. It’s listed under the More tab. You’ll get a small amount of money for visiting sites from the InboxDollars Bingo board page and completing that line. You’ll get more money the more squares you fill. Another line is activating the Billy Button at certain websites. Completing a search, redeeming offers, and logging into the InboxDollars App are some of the other items that get listed.

Get Others to Join

Another way to earn money is to get others to join using your Refer Friends code. You’ll get a bonus if they make a certain amount of money in a short time frame, and you’ll get a 10 percent stipend based on what they make. Obviously, if you could 100 active people to make $10 a month, you’d get $100 a month. I haven’t gotten there, yet, but maybe you will!

Why He-Man is Essential for Gen-X and Beyond

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The person, who created the meme with He-Man, M.A.S.K., The Transformers, and Thundercats captioning it with “Two have to go,” doesn’t understand the history of cartoons and children’s television. (This article uses affiliate leads. If you order from an affiliate lead, our website gets a tiny stipend. But it doesn’t cost you anything.) Brian C. Baer’s book “How He-Man Mastered the Universe” makes it clear that without He-Man, none of the others exist. In fact, there are whole series that would never exist.

The difference between He-Man and every show that came before it was that He-Man was designed to sell toys. Other children’s shows had toys made because the show was successful. He-Man was successful because it sold toys.

In the early 1980s and before, Action for Children’s Television (ACT) fought to keep advertising out of children’s television. They wanted TV for kids that was wholesome, educational, non-violent, and non-commercial. When Reagan became president in 1980s, children’s television was deregulated, and ACT’s work during the 12 years before was undone. Still, they were a powerful group that the networks didn’t want to upset. He-Man would be the first take them on.

He-Man’s first concession was its lack of real violence. For a sword and sorcery show, there is a surprising lack of death. There are some punching scenes, mostly when He-Man punches his fist at the screen and the character he is punching falls down. Much of the violence is directed against robots and creatures rather than humanoids. The larger concession was the moral at the end of every episode. The networks wouldn’t bite on the show, so it was sold to independent stations and became a huge hit.

With all the talk of a new He-Man movie and its casting choices, it’s important to understand just what He-Man is, how it came about, and how it absolutely destroyed the rules of children’s television. You might even want to learn more about the movie that went bankrupt before it could be finished and how it became a cult classic despite its flaws. Brian C. Baer’s “How He-Man Mastered the Universe” is an essential read for any Gen Xer and He-Man enthusiast.

More than a Merry Christmas Wish

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I want to write something for this Christmas that will make everything better. A fiction, a feel-good story, a joke, even… But I realize that there is nothing I can do or say to make anything better, not for the majority of people, anyway. My message would never reach them. Even if they were able to access it, find it through the mass of Internet mis/information, it wouldn’t penetrate their hardened hearts and wispy souls on the verge of being sucked out by the incoming tide.

Even for my small circle, making things better is little more than a pipe dream. I tried to spread some joy at the beginning of the month but was then stifled by time and lack of financial resources.

Still, with much of my heart, because I recognize my own darkness, my own inability to overcome my human failings, and my own very real wishes for the people who make life harder for the rest of us (and it isn’t the homeless guy on the street, the undocumented, or the poor), I want to make life easier for all of us. I’ve specifically avoided writing things that were dystopian in nature. I’ve tried to keep things positive, and I’ve tried to dwell on my mixed blessings. When a seemingly good thing ends up being a sucker punch, it can be difficult maintaining the sense that the good win and we all get our just desserts, especially when viewing those who make the news.

So here I am, at the end of the Christmas holiday, a day I love for its secular glory and its myths of kindness, Santa, and the redemption of the truly deplorable Scrooge. And I’m writing my Christmas wish to you, for you, and for the everyone else. I hope that the holiday has been more about those around you than it has been about you. I hope that the ghost, past present and future, have nurtured their lessons in your heart, and I hope, beyond all common sense, that the next year will be extravagantly successful, beautifully joyous, and so full of prosperity that your over-flowing cup will allow you to share your good fortune and happiness without thought to the consequences of your own position.

In short, I wish you more than the best that you can conceive. I wish you the best life here on Earth that any being can conceive. With love and dread parceled out to keep life spicy, merry Christmas and happy new year.

Red One: Can the Rock and Captain America Save Christmas?

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In Red One, Santa Claus is kidnapped, and it’s up to Santa’s bodyguard, Callum Drift played by Dwayne Johnson, and the hacker who tracked Santa to the North Pole, Jack O’Malley played by Chris Evans, to save Santa and Christmas. The plot outline is cliché among Christmas films involving Santa. Santa gets kidnapped, thrown in jail, or lost, and someone from the North Pole must team with a non-believer to save him. Jack O’Malley is no Captain America, but Evans is charming and still gets to fight.

The power of this film lies in its message. Callum has lost his ability to see the child, and therefore the good, in adults. All he sees is their selfishness, anger, and pettiness. He hands in his resignation, effective after Christmas.

Santa says it isn’t about getting people to do right. It is instead about helping them to see that every decision, big or small, is an opportunity to do good. The choices people make become who they are.

Callum doesn’t see it anymore. He sees people being mean for no reason and feels like people may not need Santa anymore because nothing matters.

Santa says now, they need us more than ever.

Red One has action, quips, and fun. It also has something the world is missing – a positive message without any baggage.

With a stellar cast, including J.K. Simmons as an athletic Santa, Bonnie Hunt as Mrs. Claus, and Lucy Liu as Zoe, the head of MORA (Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority), Red One provides an entertaining couple of hours. More importantly, it is the kind of movie we need right now.

Red One is an Amazon/MGM film in theaters. Check out this affiliate link for more information (when you purchase something from Amazon with this link, we receive a small finder’s fee.)

Advent Calendar 2024 What’s Inside (with Photo)

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I like surprises, but I realized that I don’t always get the item that’s a mystery. In fact, I usually only get a mystery item if I trust the business or person enough to believe I’m going to get value. Rarely, do I pick up a surprise because I want to be surprised; it usually involves my birthday or Christmas. Sometimes, it’s about value; can I risk the amount something costs? So, I decided to publish a sample list of items you might find in an Advent Calendar I put together.

Then, I realized that some people are visual and would much prefer a picture. So, that’s what I am putting here. A photo of a sample Advent Calendar. Please note: if you were to get an Advent Calendar from me, it will likely contain different items. The stock is constantly evolving and some items may not be available for a calendar.

If you want an Advent Calendar, leave me a message or a comment on my Patreon. Once I’ve worked out shipping, I’ll let you know the cost.

Holiday Shopping with a Personal Impact

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If you are going to be using Amazon for your holiday shopping, you can help our website out by using one of our Amazon links. When you shop through Penguinate.com, Amazon pays us a commission, The best part is that you don’t pay any more than you normally would for what you order.

Etsy Penguinate

If Amazon isn’t your thing, consider checking out our Etsy shop for plushies. Jenya has knit a bear with a sweater. The bear is super cute. We also have a selection of penguins available, including our popular Roly-Poly penguins.

Books Available

If plushies aren’t your thing (and I’m not sure that’s a possibility), I have written several books. All of them are available on Amazon in one form or another. I also have a few hard copies available that I could autograph and send.

If you’re looking for an archery book or something from an independent author, I still have several authors available, including Drue M. Scott, Darren Lamb, and Shannen Crane Camp. I’m going to read Sugar-Coated again, so I can see how the trilogy ends. Also, I have the Colorworld series.

Advent Calendar

If you would like an Advent Calendar, I am creating some. They will have stickers, projects, and other goodies. I’ll be posting on Patreon for the month of December. You could also get the 2023 Advent Calendar, which is electronic and already published.

Holiday Shopping for Impact

Of course, if none of this excites you, I urge you to find an artist, writer, non-profit, or small business to support this year. Don’t let the big businesses consolidate more cash into useless, leaden “wealth.”

Thank you for visiting our website through out the year. We appreciate you being here whether holiday shopping or not.

Saturday FanX 2024 Panel Schedule First Look

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Dick Van Dyke’s move to Saturday makes it easier for me to get in to see him. (He was originally schedule for the hour before my panel on Friday.) However, now that he’s scheduled for the first hour of the busiest day, it’s going to be important to get in line early. He is the panel to see on Saturday.

The noon hour features the Terminator celebrity panel. At 12:30 there is Deafinitely Cinema, a discussion of how the deaf are portrayed in the movies. The 1pm hour has the Behind the Magic: The Secrets of Disneyland panel and a discussion on the Twilight Zone. Mel Gibson is scheduled to 1:15pm.

The next panel to get to is at 2pm. Singer/songwriter Paul Williams and his Rainbow Connection of Muppet’s fame is legendary. This panel will end soon enough for us to get to the Little House celebrity panel at 3:30pm. At 4:30pm, Harry Potter fans will be treated to a celebrity panel, but my choice would be to hit up the Six Million Dollar Man/Bionic Woman celebrity panel. Both panels will run into the Hope for the Trope panel at 5pm, but I’m willing to miss it. At 5:30, the Provost Park Passs will reveal more secrets to park travel.

So, our schedule will look something like this:

  • 11am – Dick van Dyke
  • Noon – Terminator celebrity panel
  • 2pm – Paul Williams
  • 3:30pm – Little House on the Prairie celebrity panel
  • 4:30pm – Six Million Dollar Man/Bionic Woman panel
  • End the con with a trip through the vendor floor

This plan was made on Sept. 15. Conventions change their schedules. Be flexible and go with the flow for the best comic convention experience at FanX 2024.

Check out our Thursday and Friday plans, as well as some more tips for enjoying FanX 2024. Pick up my book to be prepared for my panel on Friday at 1pm.

FanX 2024 Friday Panel Schedule First Look

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As I mention in my Thursday First Look, it’s important to remember that conventions change their schedules for a myriad of reasons. These first looks and subsequent schedule proposals are just a way to get some focus for the day while trying to find the one thing I want to do during that day at the convention. The FanX 2024 Friday panel schedule, as of Sept. 12, contains the most important panel of the convention for me; I will be presenting “The Haunted Mansion Is Creativity” at 1pm.

That means I will miss Patrick Warburton because he’s scheduled for 12:30. I will also likely avoid any panels before one, so I can be sure that I am ready to do my panel. (High School the Musical celebrity panel is at noon.) The next big panel is Priscilla Presley at 5:30pm. There’s a high probability that Jenya and I will make that presentation. Everyone knows Elvis, and Jenya’s seen a recent biopic on Priscilla.

However, between my panel and Priscilla’s panel is the Thelma and Louise celebrity panel at 2pm. At 3pm, there’s a presentation on 1950s Scif-Fi: Monsters vs. Aliens and Jason Isaacs of Harry Potter fame. Lou Diamond Phillips is at 3:30pm.

At 4pm, the panel Tolkien: Back and There Again will examine the media adaptations of Tolkien’s fantasy writings. At 4:30, writers might want to attend the panel on the Realities of Being a Full-Time Author; with Halloween around the corner, others might find the Nightmare Before Christmas panel more entertaining. Marissa Tomei is at 5pm and the Once Upon a Time celebrity panel is at 6pm, so we’ll probably miss both of those. At 7pm, Jon Heder will likely try to recreate his dance from Napoleon Dynamite during the movie’s panel. Vote for Pedro!

Likely Schedule:

  • 1pm – The Haunted Mansion Is Creativity; Don’t forget to order your book.
  • 2pm – Thelma and Lousie celebrity panel
  • 3:30pm – Lou Diamond Phillips
  • 4:30pm – This is a toss-up, but I’m leaning towards Nightmare Before Christmas.
  • 5:30pm – Priscilla Presley
  • 7pm – Napoleon Dynamite

FanX 2024 Thursday Panels Schedule Revised

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FanX 2024 Thursday panels have undergone some changes from the first look that I did. So a quick look at the new schedule, as of 9/12/2024, is in order with a reminder that convention schedules are subject to change.

Anthony Daniels is still on the schedule for 6pm, and he’s a must-see. However, he’s not the only heavy hitter panel on Thursday. FanX has scheduled a Lord of the Rings celebrity panel for 2pm. Fortunately, these two panels are far enough apart in time that I think we can make them both. Before two, we can grab some food and take our time exploring the vendor hall and some of the rooms that have displays not requiring a specifically timed visit.

Matthew Lillard is at 3pm, which is also a change that means we might be able to see him. The Ghostbuster celebrity panel is at 4pm. After that, we’ll have some time to get something to eat while we wait for Anthony Daniels. At 7pm, Brandon Sanderson will be presenting. So all told, our schedule will look something like this for Thursday:

  • 2pm – Lord of the Rings celebrity panel
  • 3pm – Matthew Lillard
  • 4pm – Ghostbusters celebrity panel
  • 6pm – Anthony Daniels
  • 7pm – Brandon Sanderson

As always, one of the best ways for me to enjoy a convention is choose one thing I want to do every day, but just one. Then, as long as I accomplish that one thing, the rest of the day is icing on the cake. It’s not always possible to accomplish the one thing though because conventions can change their schedules, so having a back-up plan is a good idea as well.

What’s the one thing you’re looking forward to at FanX 2024 on Thursday? Let me know in the comments.

Thursday’s FanX 2024 Plan of Activities 1st Look

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As with every comic convention, scheduled panels can be rescheduled and moved in an instant. This happens for several reasons, most of which have to do with a celebrity’s livelihood. If you get a gig, you gotta go do it. As long as fans remember this when planning their comic con visit, they will be able to embrace the change. FanX 2024 will be no different. Somethings may get changed, and we’ll just have to make sure we are prepared to enjoy other aspects of the convention when that happens. That disclaimer out of the way, here’s where I think I will be going with the schedule as it stands on Sept. 7, 2024.

The Pirate Rules for FanX

The first and only rule I follow, which is more of a guideline really, is: Choose one thing every day that I would like to accomplish. When I go with someone else, we make it two things. As long as these two things get accomplished, everything else is gravy. If they don’t get accomplished because something changed, that’s okay, too. We won’t be disappointed because we are ready to face that contingency.

The FanX Multiverse

It looks like FanX 2024 features two timelines: one starts on the hour, and one starts on the half hour. That means you’ll need to be aware of those panels that start in the middle of other great choices. It also may mean waiting longer for a particular panel if you happened to have gone to a panel on the alternate timeline. (Use this time to visit the Vendor floor and seek out some local artists and creators. Support them in their endeavors and you’ll have more than just a treasure to take home for yourself.)

Thursday’s FanX 2024 Schedule

Thursday’s must-see panel is Anthony Daniels, the man who brought C-3PO to life. I’ve met Tony Dyson, who built R2-D2, at a comic on in Malta. I met Peter Mayhew, aka Chewbacca, at one of the earlier FanXes. I’ve seen Carrie Fisher on stage, so Anthony Daniels just seems to fit with what I’ve done so far. His panel is scheduled for 6pm, which means we have most of the day to do whatever else we happen to fall into.

Kicking Off FanX2024

Thursday’s FanX 2024 panels kick off with a tribute to Jack Kirby at 12:30. CelloCat is playing at 1:30pm. It’s between two and three that we have our first conflict. Sam Jones and Will Conrad of Flash Gordon fame will take the stage at 2pm. Paul Williams, who I know from the Muppet Movie and Smokey and the Bandit, as well as some of his amazing songs, and Randy Quaid, from a bunch of movies including Independence Day and the Christmas Vacations, have their respective panels at 2:30pm. For me, it’s Paul Williams. His work with the Muppets is enough for me to want to see him, but his musical contributions put him over the top. You can’t go wrong with any of the three; it’s just a question of who do you feel most connected to.

However, Williams’ panel will bleed into the 3pm hour, which means missing out on Matthew Lillard, aka live-action Shaggy among other characters. Lillard is likely comedy gold. Other panels happening at this time are “Low Observable Technology” about a real-world cloaking device and “Imagine If? Remaking Disney’s Lands.” I’ll have to think about this more, but right now, Paul Williams is still the front runner.

Thursday Afternoon

At 3:30pm, the decision is between Star Wars Villains and a Voice Actor panel, which is sure to be great. However, 4pm has panels dedicated to Little House on the Prairie, a show that still carries relevant themes, and Napoleon Dynamite. Garret Hedlund from Tron: Legacy will also be doing his own panel, but the big draw will likely be the She-Hulk panel with Jameela Jamil and Patty Gugenheim. At 4:30pm, Daniel Logan will be holding court in his own panel, and there is the intriguing “No harm ever came from reading a book” Mummy celebration of 25 years.

Thursday Evening

At 5pm, Analyzing the opening music of Anime seems like the best panel for the hour, but it does compete with the High School the Musical panel of celebrities. Jennifer Blanc will be presenting at 5:30pm. However, since these both lead up to Anthony Daniels, it is questionable as to whether I would risk missing the Star Wars star. The HstM group is in the same room as Daniels, so I may see them by default. (Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen the movies, so I know the people in the panel. It would be a joy to see them.) At 7pm, Brandon Sanderson holds court in the same room, so I may just camp out there for the three panels.

Putting It Together

Coming up with a rough schedule of panels to see would look something like this:

  • Jack Kirby at 12:30
  • Cello Cat at 1:30 with a stop for food at some point
  • Paul Willliams at 2:30
  • 4pm is a toss-up with each panel having its own draw. This might be another good time to pony up for something to eat. Sometimes, you have to go by feel. I’m leaning towards Little House or Hedlund.
  • 5pm again is a toss-up, but since my main goal for Thursday is to see Anthony Daniels, I will likely opt for High School the Musical or food.
  • 6pm Anthony Daniels
  • 7pm Brandon Sanderson or going back to the hotel to post about Thursday’s activities and rest for the next day.

FanX 2024 will be a lot of fun, but it’s important to remember that it is supposed to be fun. As a reporter, I had an entirely different view of the convention because it was my job to cover as many panels as I could. Now, however, I can take it easier, relax a little bit and find those panels that will teach me something or that I will get great joy from. I also have to remember to eat and hydrate. Last, but not least, there is always something great to be found in the vendors areas – like Tank Tolman – I’ll need to make time for that during the convention as well.

What will you being doing at Thursday’s FanX 2024? I’ve prioritized panels, but there are other things to do as well. Leave your preferred schedule, FanX pirate rules, and other tips in the comments.

The next post will look at Friday when my panel “The Haunted Mansion Is Creativity” takes place. I’ll be discussing creativity tips using the Haunted Mansion’s history and structure as a guide. Get your book before FanX on Amazon or contact me at shadexaminer@gmail.com, so I can reserve you one of my copies.