Creative ways your sims have gotten around being poor

Anthonydyer · December 2018

My sims have been poor several times, and I've had to find creative ways to get around it. Many times it occurs when I buy a house that is more than they can afford. I want to hear your ways on how you improvise when your sims are poor.

I'll get us started!

One time they couldn't afford beds, so I bought the cheapest bed and let my sims take turns sleeping on one bed.
I had my sims join a picnic when people cook food outdoors.
I don't place windows in a house until they can afford it.
One time they couldn't afford a shower, so I sent my sim to the gym to shower there.
Fill the yard with several plants and sell the crops for money.
Have your sim take a vacation day and work on a monetized skill all day. (2 paychecks!)

Stormkeep · December 2018

I never place any furniture until sims can afford it...some of my fondest memories are playing one of the challenges that have you start with absolutely 0, and my sim had to nap on park benches. Snarking food that other people don't finish eating near food carts is a thing too.

mikamakimon · December 2018

I've done a few rags to riches before where my sims had nothing at all. Like you, I've had them loiter around parks to find left over meals and to use the facilities in gyms. Once they have enough saved up, I'd get them a tent and a cooler, gradually expanding to a little house the more they saved up. I've mostly had my sims start on gardening to earn some money, or go around to find collectibles or go fishing. Last time I did this though I didn't have seasons yet, so it would be interesting to try this again.

mikamakimon · December 2018

I also tried (and failed) a challenge - I think it was by LilSimsy, where my sim had to live alone on the island in Brindleton with six dogs and one raccoon. The only way for the sim to make money is by selling whatever the dogs can find. The challenge ends when the racoon dies of old age, or something like that. It was a tough challenge, and kind of turned me off pet dogs in the game for good, lol. I think even LilSimsy ended up cheating on her own challenge as it was impossible to complete.

OEII1001 · December 2018

My poorest sims absolutely hot rack -- the process of using a single bed and sleeping in shifts -- as well as showering at the gym. They will also mooch off of the people cooking out in Newcrest, and the Spice Festival is gold for a free meal. They will also set up a camp site on an empty lot instead of building a house.

Libraries are also gold for computer needs, and the occasional easel set up around Windenburg lets them develop their painting skills for extra cash. Karaoke contests can provide a boost in simoleons.

astera00 · December 2018

I also start with the very bare minimum of furniture, meaning one item only for each need if an item is needed at all. That means no windows either and everything is open-plan (except the bathroom) so you use as few walls as possible.

Take turns sleeping, everybody else has to nap on a bench if they also need to sleep
Use everything you can from public places, such as the BBQs at Newcrest for a meal (but make sure someone else cooked it first)
If there are children and they bring a school project home, sell it (it's worth 80 simoleans when it's complete)
Have children rummage through public bins to find all sorts of toys and sell them (keep one for the kid though, it's bad enough being poor)
Kick over trash cans and rummage for parts to sell. Then clean it up, kick it over again and repeat
Go to work or school hungry, they'll eat there

The humour and hijinks festival is a pretty easy one to win if you go in a group and do mischief interactions all night. Each person then gets a voodoo doll which is worth about 900 simoleons and fireworks. Sell all of those and find any posters and snowglobes in the city and you've got a pretty profitable night.

The last time I had a really poor sim, I didn't have tents yet, but I want to try a rags to riches now especially because I also have seasons.

Anthonydyer · December 2018

Stormkeep wrote: »

my sim had to nap on park benches.

I forgot about this! I've done that also. It's funny because we would never get away with these in real life.

astera00 wrote: »

Go to work or school hungry, they'll eat there

I do this also. I was really drawing a blank when I made the original post.
I also send them to work or school hungry when they mess around all morning and miss their chance to eat. That's what you get for not eating on time.

Simpkin · December 2018

make friends and ask for a big loan lol

OriginalName · December 2018

I've done a lot of the above. And also fished until I snagged a violin, then played for tips. You don't get nearly as much as in the Sims 3, but in conjunction with everything listed above you can make a little bit of money.

So_Money · December 2018

Freeload off your sim’s significant other. Problem solved.

pinneduphair · December 2018

Sometimes I've bought everything from the flea market just to resell it all. You generally make a profit from doing so.

Stormkeep · December 2018

@hyrulerose I figured that out just recently in my game as well. It's brilliant!

Karababy52 · December 2018

I almost always have my Sims start out Rags to Riches style and have done a lot of things mentioned above. Never thought about kicking over a trash can and rummaging for stuff though or sleeping in shifts with one bed either, those are great ideas @astera00!

Other things I do are:

Fish at the Magnolia Promenade pier - Your Sim will reliably fish up Dragonfruit and Voodoo dolls. They can either sell the Dragonfruit for quick cash or plant them for BIG profits once harvestable. They grow only in the Fall though, so if it's not Fall, they'll need to be sheltered. Just build a 'roof' greenhouse for them in that case. They can get Cowplant berries there too. Those are worth 180 simoleans now outright, and/or if you don't want to grow them, plant them first on your lot and then sell them in buy mode. Selling them that way they're worth 475 simoleans.
Give your Sim the Glutton trait - They can rummage for free food in trash cans. Gross, but hey, it's free food!
Wash hands to fulfill Hygiene - Tedious, but it gets the job done if you have restricted them to only using lots they can 'walk' to in the neighborhood and there isn't a gym available. Unless they're camping on the island in Windenberg. In that case, get them a sink asap to do this. I'll get them the stone looking one from OR and pretend the lot they're on was previously a public/park area. Or sometimes I'll just get them the tarp shower.
If you have CL, get the yard sale table as soon as they have enough funds and use it to sell collectibles they've found. *Tip - Don't sell harvestables on this table though. Those never are a one and done sale, it will just stay on the table indefinitely and your Sims can sell them over and over. Too cheaty for my game play, but it's a nice bug for those who don't mind taking advantage of it.
Once they start building, I don't paint the walls, put down flooring or any windows either. But if I do and you want to use a free window covering instead of buying curtains/blinds for at least the bathroom/bedroom, the CL posters work great for this.

Just a few things I can think of off the top of my head for now. Happy Simming!

EDIT: Just thought of one more thing. To help beat the weather when your Sims are poor and can't afford to build yet, just put down a roof (they're free) and manipulate it high enough and wide enough for a Sim to fit inside, put a door on it and they can use that for a temporary 'house'. I've even put my plants in there to double as a temporary greenhouse so plants will grow year-round.

Hermitgirl · December 2018

I've done the sleeping in a bed in shifts thing also but I usually get a better bed.. and as the money comes in I buy better everything little by little.. not top of line but not uncomfortable for sure.
If I'm not doing a challenge I'll build on community lots. The gym usually has a section to sleep and a fridge and some counters for instance.
I also like to put generic lot "homes" in most of my hoods. My sims live free while collecting or visiting those areas. Some homes might have many skilling options also or might be themed. Since I don't fill up my saves it's a nice way to utilize the space.
My sims also go for the free meals .. even going as far as to start engaging with a sim to make them put it down. Then they swipe it and keep talking.
The always welcome trait is my good friend.

Monaveil · December 2018

Most of my Sims start with no money and live off what they can harvest or collect. They start planting a lot of flowers right away - roses, bluebells, daisies, chrysanthemums. and lilies. These plants generate money when they bloom - not a lot at first, but it adds up. The Sim is always on his home lot before 4:30 AM so he's there when everything starts blooming at 5:00 AM. At about 7;00 AM they start to harvest and collect everything from around the neighborhood. Time capsules are sold without being opened. I also sell all treasure maps. Money from the sale of what they collect and harvest adds up pretty quickly.

They unlock the painting skill for free by working on murals in San Myshuno. They learn to play the guitar, violin, and piano at the Casbah Gallery. Sometimes they get small tips while they're practicing. They can also use the woodworking table to unlock the Handiness skill.

They mooch free drinks at bars. I've noticed that bartenders seem to always have at least one freebie available. A hungry Sim can also get free chips at a bar.

City posters and Snow Globes: I keep one for the collections and sell duplicates. City posters are free money and it feels kind of cheaty using them.

The first three weeks that a Sim is in the game can be difficult but they're pretty resilient. Almost every place that has bathrooms, free food, and drink also have Sims to socialize with as well as a stereo, television, or computer for fun.

I just discovered the yard sale table this past weekend.

I had a newly turned Fledgling Vampire learning how to cook because he got inspired and wanted to make a group meal, even though he couldn't eat any of it. I had him start with fruit salads and garden salads. At level 3 cooking, I let him start using a stove to make starter foods like Mac and cheese and grilled cheese sandwiches. He ended up with a lot of normal quality food that he couldn't eat himself so he had a yard sale. He stocked the table with the dishes that he had prepared and then he marked everything up 300%, which I figured no one would buy but I wanted to see what happened. He sold everything! He had 2 more yard sales after that because he wanted to learn to bake. The last yard sale earned him $5,000 from the sale of baked goods like bread sticks, fruit pies, cheesy bread, and carrot cakes. He now has several vampire customers who buy his food items and provide vampire training too!

Anthonydyer · December 2018

I've used traits to my advantage in the past, more so in Sims 3. The workaholic trait from S3 is neat.
Sims 4 doesn't have many traits that will help you. I can say that some traits may indirectly help you such as increasing skill faster, but that is about it.

Anthonydyer · December 2018

It's neat how you get a computer for free early on in the writer career. It is great for writing and selling books. Those two go great together. The writer career is one of my favorite careers.

My favorite monetized skills are gardening, writing, and programming. Writing and programming don't earn you too much at first, but can bring in a good income if you stick with it. I've also done fishing which brings a decent income. Although I kind of have a personal bias against it. I've never caught a fish in real life. Placing worms on hooks is not my cup of tea. Plants, words, and programming code does not produce guts.

Does anyone know if the new fashion career involves a monetized skill?

SimsFinest1 · December 2018

Showering at the gym

Theivery and selling items I stole

Sleep rotation if more than 1 Sim

JestTru · December 2018

I try and have one sim do gardening and sell them. I had one household where it brought in a lot more than actually going to work.

Anthonydyer · December 2018

@leetamme Gardening is great. I placed an elderly woman in a house and I didn't want to give her a career, but she needed income. I had her garden and she is making great money.

BilmoBlampkins · December 2018

Selling everything he has found.

SmallAurelius · January 2019

If you throw a gold-level House Party you get the 'landlord whisperer' as a reward in your household inventory which is worth $1,880 to sell (so you might spend $100-$200 putting on a party, and get a really good return, with all the social benefits of the party). Each party (and dates) has a different reward for each level of success. I've found gold house parties to be great for that - one sim was basically a freelance Event Manager (in a Settler Challenge with careers not yet allowed, she made a killing).

As others have said, harvestables. I find the time investment worth it - I've found roses particularly lucrative.

GrumpyGlowfish · January 2019

One of my sims didn't have enough money to pay the bills for his pompous San Myshuno penthouse, so I had him travel to various worlds and neighbourhoods, digging out collectibles, harvesting plants from other sims' gardens, and selling them all until he could make ends meet.

Also, since Seasons, my currently active sim families have won the lottery twice out of six times, I believe. I don't know if it's possible to create a custom lottery, but that might be another thing worth trying: Just create so many lottery holidays and buy so many tickets until you win. Granted, you may waste a few hundreds of simoleons until then, but the payoff will more than make up for that, and if my previous experiences are anything to go buy, the odds of winning the sim lottery are way higher than in real life!

Zeri · January 2019

a tent, a pee bush, and a campfire. i had a guy living on a lot with just those things until he earned some money haha. showers were more complicated. i had to go to community lots that had a shower on them

MoonSim · January 2019

Klepto skill baby!
Or spend a day getting aspiration points to buy the "always welcome" trait to eat/sleep/etc. at friends' houses.

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Creative ways your sims have gotten around being poor

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