mailbox money

plural mailbox moneys

1. countableuncountableSynonym of passive income

   Mailbox money is the idea of having passive income arrive in your mailbox every month with little work..

   2023 September 5, u/Iam_motivated_jay, “Mailbox Money! 📫”, in r/hiphopvinyl (Reddit post), archived from the original on 19 Nov 2023

   2 more examples

   He saw a great inequity — fishing factories making off with tons of salmon and other fish from Alaskan waters while coastal natives lived on welfare, what is known up there as “mailbox money.” He set out to do something about it.

   1996 October 18, “Baltimore native son makes mark in Alaska”, in The Baltimore Sun, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 19 Sep 2026

   “These people don't work. They sit at home and think of scams to get money. It's called mailbox money. They're just getting checks every day,” Bond said.

   2015 September 24, Dave Summers, “Fake Accidents Costing Insured Drivers Billions: AAA”, in NBC 7 San Diego

   Synonyms: passive income

2. countableuncountablefilm industry; music industry; film industry; music industryIncome from royalties or residuals, especially from work done in the far past.

   What was once called “mailbox money,” referring to the small but steady stream of checks sent to hit songwriters in the pre-digital age, Khaled dubs “forever money.”

   2023 June 21, “How DJ Khaled Built a Hip-Hop Empire Off of Relentless Positivity, Self-Promotion and Friends Like Drake and Jay-Z”, in Variety, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 Jun 2023

   3 more examples

   There was a commercial for Busch beer that provided income for five years, the occasional gigs in San Francisco or Nashville, and a few royalty checks for songs she'd written -- "mailbox money," she calls it.

   1995 May 26, Megan Rosenfeld, “A PIECE OF HER HEART”, in The Washington Post, →ISSN, →OCLC

   Shapiro has played small roles on TV shows such as "Will & Grace," "House" and "2 Broke Girls." The residuals she earns from those appearances can be worth anywhere from a few cents to a couple hundred dollars, depending on what shows are in syndication. Shapiro said finding those checks in her mailbox used to bring her joy -- even when that "mailbox money" was miniscule. Now she's petrified to open her mail.

   2020 May 7, David Wagner, “LA Actors Are Losing Unemployment Benefits Based On Work They Did Years Ago”, in LAist, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Jun 2021

   “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days is the gift that keeps on giving,” McConaughey told the Happy Sad Confused podcast. “I think it’s probably my favorite rom-com I’ve done. And a lot of people love that rom-com. It still pays the best ‘mailbox money’ of any film I’ve ever done. By far. … When [home video] used to be just DVDs or cable [instead of streaming or VOD], every March I’d get a big check because of Valentine’s Day.”

   2026 August 13, James Hibberd, “Matthew McConaughey: ‘How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days’ Pays “by Far” My Best “Mailbox Money””, in The Hollywood Reporter, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Aug 2026

3. countableuncountableoil industryIncome from mineral rights royalties.

   Ruckman is among 12 million U.S. mineral owners who collect "mailbox money," or payments for oil and gas extracted from their land.

   2020 May 22, Jennifer Hiller, “U.S. shale bust slams rural economies as oil checks shrivel”, in Reuters

   2 more examples

   Brent Rowell leased 60 acres in east Texas for $250 an acre and what he thought was an exceptional 20% cut of whatever the wells produced -- monthly royalty checks known in these parts as “mailbox money.”

   2008 August 1, Miguel Bustillo, “A new lease on life at their feet”, in Los Angeles Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 12 Oct 2019

   Gerald and Kitten Dowden have a name for the blessing that’s changed their lives and that of their family: “mailbox money.” Not long ago they found that their Shreveport, La., home sits atop a natural-gas well, and now they receive six-figure checks for the hard work of staying put.

   2012 January 20, Jon Caramanica, “2 Families Face a Gust of Fortune”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 24 Jul 2017