Tag Archives: money

How Can You Help Us?

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Since I got laid off one month after paying to relocate for a “promotion,” people have asked how they can help. I don’t have a real answer for that because I’m still in the middle of trying to figure out what the hell happened. I have a couple of smaller answers that could help, though.

Contacts in Eugene, Oregon

If you know a business owner or a hiring manager for a business in Eugene, put them in touch with me. I’m not sure that any of my friends live I Eugene, but if you do, or you have in the past, and you still have contacts, now is the time to help me network. My last two jobs came because I knew someone who knew someone who worked there.

Outside of Oregon

Alternatively, if you know of a job that is remote or would be willing to pay moving expenses, I would be willing to consider that as well. I already have a couple of people step up and offer me remote writing jobs for blog posts and website organization. For physical locations, we’d prefer some place with a beach, and possibly, some place outside the U.S.

Purchase from Amazon through Penguinate

If you’re already buying from Amazon, use one of our affiliate links to make the purchase. It doesn’t cost you anything other than a little additional time, and it could make a huge difference depending on how many people make their purchases through the links on our website.

Join Our Patreon

Mom said I should think about setting up a GoFundMe, but Patreon is my version thereof. We currently have 10 members! When you join at any paid level, you get some benefits – the most recent instructions on how to fold a cootie catcher and a Viking Cootie Catcher template. The last two Decembers, I’ve done Virtual Advent Calendars, though this year’s calendar did have a physical component for those of my members who requested one. Other benefits include 10% off any purchase at our live events. The next one is scheduled for Mar. 29, 2025 in Salem, Oregon.

Adopt a Penguin or Bear

We have a lot of penguins and a couple of bears for adoption. They are available at Etsy, or send me a message. They will also be available at our Salem gig in March 2025.

Buy a Book

I’ve written 15 books. If you haven’t completed your collection, now would be a fantastic time. If you have Kindle Unlimited, you can even read them for free and I still get a little bit of a boost.

Join and Use InboxDollars

A couple of people I know have joined InboxDollars using one of my links, but they never actually used the site. The thing is, we get 10% of whatever you earn. It doesn’t come out of your earnings, so you still get the full amount. I wrote a handy little guide to try to get the most of the program. In January 2025, I was hitting it hard, and I made $40.

Bookmark, Visit and Share Penguinate.com

The mere act of you showing up and reading this page is helpful. I have monetized the content as well as I can, given my resources. If I get a lot of people reading articles, making comments and sharing content, it would help improve the viability of this website as a possible revenue stream. I also write for Asgard Alaska; a visit to the website and share of their Viking content would be greatly appreciated.

I appreciate everyone and the outpouring of support on Facebook and through other contact points. I am sorry I don’t have a better way for you to help at the moment, but maybe, if we all pull together, we can help each other by changing the system that allows people to be thrown away like used trash any time a company isn’t making “enough” of a profit. I have been trying to come up with a story that would illustrate such a society, but there’s no conflict or profit in utopian literature unless I can somehow juxtapose it with the current reality while still showing that utopia could be attainable. Of course, we don’t have to go full utopia, just moving toward a more caring society that doesn’t allow bullies, sociopaths and idiots to run things would be an improvement.

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!

How to Make Money Online with InboxDollars

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July 1, 2022 – I did a web search to find out how to make money online, and InboxDollars came up. I decided that the worst thing that could happen was I would get spammed or not get paid, so I joined on May 31. In about one month’s time, I’ve made almost $25. It’s not going to pay the bills, but an extra $25 comes in handy. I’m still exploring the sight, but here are some suggestions that could help you earn more if you decide to join. (Use my referral link above. It doesn’t cost you anything. When you earn rewards, I also earn rewards. More on the referral system below.)

Playing Games

The first thing that caught my eye about making money online with InboxDollars was that I could do so by playing solitaire! I figured I play enough point and click games that give me nothing beyond the satisfaction of doing well and seeing Disney characters interact with the park I built (in Disney Magic Kingdoms). A couple of games of solitaire a day for a little cash would be a little more productive.

Can you really make money playing solitaire? Yes, you can, but only indirectly and don’t expect it to buy you coffee. Basically, as you play Solitaire, Mahjongg Dimensions or one of the other games, your progress bar fills up. When the bar gets to the first dollar sign symbol, you get a scratch card for up to $10. Don’t play it. The second dollar symbol on the progress bar gets you a scratch-it for up to $25. However, the real winner is the third dollar symbol, which gives you a scratch-it for up to $100. It’s the last one that I wait for, and I generally win between a nickel and nine cents. If playing these games is all you do, you’re still pulling in a nickel when you fill up the bar (depending on what scratch-it you go for.)

Games are probably the hardest way to make any money, but if you’re playing solitaire, three match, or word games anyway, you may as well hook yourself up with the opportunity for $100. If you have a smartphone, there are other game opportunities with better rewards.

The Daily List

As long as you have decided to make money online with Inbox Dollars by playing games, you should really maximize your efforts. Start everyday by checking out the Daily List and doing the simple tasks they have there. Answer and Learn is the daily poll that requires you to answer one question. Add a Magic Receipts Offer requires nothing more than for you to choose something to add to your grocery list; you can remove it later. Visit the Deal of the Day and any other pages they may have in the list. These are easy pickings, and if you do five of them, you get a bonus. Do all of them and you get a second bonus.

Make Your Daily Goal

Your Daily Goal will vary from day to day. In order to achieve the Daily Goal, you must earn a certain amount of money each day. Sometimes, it can be 30 cents; sometimes, it’ll be more. Whatever it is, you get a bonus every day, and if you keep a streak going, you’ll get larger bonuses as the month goes on – as much as $3. The Daily Goal is relatively easy to attain if you do the right surveys, but a foray into the Offers area can also get you to the goal on some days.

Take a Survey

The surveys are where you can rack up your money total. The surveys section lists a number of surveys with the amount they are worth and the approximate time the survey will take. It’s important to note that you will not qualify for every survey. In fact, some estimates say you will qualify for about one in five or 20% of the surveys that you click on. Also, some of the surveys will cycle you through three or four qualifying survey pages before you actually take the survey. You may also run into surveys that you seem to have completed, but they never bring you back to InboxDollars. It’s frustrating, but it’ll be better if you don’t get too angry about it.

Find an Offer

InboxDollars has 100 percent free offers. Many of these offers are related to games that you can download to your smartphone and play to a certain level in a certain timespan. Some of them are point and click quizzes that take you multiple web pages while asking questions about which picture matches which.

Perhaps, the most important of these 100 percent free offers are the Click and Earn and Explore and Earn. With these offers, you get between one and four cents for your click or clicks. These links will take you to another page that will send you to the actual place where you can get credit for your effort. While the amount of pennies you can pick up this way varies, it has helped me to make my daily goal on numerous occasions. I have found that I need to go through these pages all at once rather than try to get them in separate sessions. If you see a penny, click it up!

Do a Search

Searches are a great way to earn progress points. This is the information they are looking for, and they are willing to boost your winning potential to get it. Of course, they want a natural search, so it helps if you know what you are looking for. Start with InboxDollars instead of one of the other search engines, and you’ll be able to fill your progress bar. (This is an especially good idea for authors or people who need to search for info because of their job.)

Upload Receipts

Magic Receipts allow you to upload your grocery receipts and make money online with InboxDollars. You need to pick out the Magic Receipts offers related to your grocery receipt and add them to your list. When you get to the list, you need to click on them again. Every receipt is worth a couple of cents. But the price can go up depending on what you buy. Deals can and do change, so it’s important to know what you are looking for.

Because you have a 14-day window to upload receipts, I generally wait until the last possible moment to do so. My Magic Receipts are a last-ditch effort to meet my daily goal.

Paid Emails

Paid emails are another way to drastically increase your progress bar. The email comes to your personal email, click on it and you get progress toward a Scratch and Win. The emails are also in the messages section of InboxDollars.

Refer a Friend

If you have the kind of friends who like to play games online or do surveys, the Refer Friend link will help you increase your earnings. As of this writing, you can make 30% of whatever your friends make when they do activities. For every dollar they earn, you get 30 cents. It doesn’t cost them anything other than their time.

With all of the activities available to make money online with InboxDollars, there is certainly a way to help you supplement your income. Join today with my referral link, and we’ll both be enriched!

‘Outer Banks’: Faux-Teens, Family, and the Search for Treasure

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As with a majority of teen dramas, the actors portraying the teens of ‘Outer Banks’ are in their 20s with Chase Stokes being the oldest of the main troupe at 27! Stokes’ John B. is a 16-year-old headed to foster care after the disappearance of his father who was looking for the gold from an old sea-wreck. He lives on the poor side of the Outer Banks and runs with his Pogues. There’s plenty of teen drug use and violence, with fists and the occasional gun being used to solve problems. There are also a couple of scenes of teen sex, but they don’t get too graphic. Clothes remain mostly in place.

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For the Love of Money or People: COVID-19

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This whole thing comes down to your real values. You have a simple choice. Do you value money or life? And you can see by the reactions and the calls those who truly value life and those who value money. As an individual in a system that requires you to have money to have life, you have to make a decision. How much do you value your current level of living and how much are you willing to sacrifice to not have to put your life and the lives of your loved ones in danger?

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Tips for Becoming a Super Saver

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In her book “Rich Enough? A Laid-back Guide for Every Kiwi,” Mary Holm, “New Zealand’s Most Trusted Money Expert,” gives several suggestions for becoming a super saver. By following this advice, you should be able to save more than you think you can in a shorter time span.

Super Saver Rules

The first rule is to set yourself a goal. If you play point and click games, or old-school video games, you know that racking up points is good, but having a destination is better. You can do the same thing in your savings. Have a goal, so that you can motivate yourself to get to the next level. Just be sure it’s a SMART goal.

Know what you’re saving for. What is it that you want to achieve through savings? Find a pictorial representation and put it where you can see it. Use that as your motivation.

Start small. Even if you’re just putting away $10 a month at the beginning, you’re doing something for your future. As soon as you have enough to open an interest-bearing account, get your money in there. Choose an account that will penalize you for withdrawing funds.

Use a mental trick. Holm suggests imagining your job paid you 5 percent less. Where would you cut back? Make those cuts and put that 5 percent into your savings.

Pay off a loan? Find a cheaper company for services like Internet, cable, or electricity? Paid less taxes? Got a tax refund? Take half the savings that you realize and put it into your long-term account. Do the same thing if you get a raise; put half of it in savings before you adjust your lifestyle to the increase in funds.

Any one-off payments can be put into your savings account as well. If you get an inheritance, you can use some of the money, but put most of it towards your goal. Follow these suggestions, and you’re on your way to becoming a super saver.

Problems Starting a New Project: The Musical

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While it may seem easy to start working on a new project, it’s actually one of the hardest things for any creative to do. There are a lot of reasons for this, including the need to market all of the earlier projects, the need to make money at a regular job, housework needs to be done, too many ideas without the corresponding time, not knowing which idea will be profitable, the last project isn’t truly finished but the creative person is waiting on someone else to do his or her job… The list goes on and on and includes at least one-part procrastination and one-part relaxation.

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