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The Sims 4: Making Money

Tips for Getting Rich, Money Cheats & Self-Employment Methods

There are many powerful ways to make money in The Sims 4, though not all will make your Sim wealthy. With a game full of options, some players may feel overwhelmed with what direction to take. This guide is meant to give the player ideas to help them generate Simoleans to give their Sims a comfortable life. First, we'll look at the most profitable means of Self-Employment, then add on the other ways Simmers can make a little side money. Money cheats are included for those who want to skip skilling up.

Money Cheats
If you want to cheat for money, it's as simple as typing Control + Shift + C to open the command console, then typing in either motherlode (for $50k) or kaching (for $1k). Players who want millions of Simoleans can type money 2000000 (or any other amount - that gives 2 million) to automatically make the household's funds match the given value (this can actually lower money, too). If you'd like to move a new Sim family directly into a mansion, type freerealestate on to make all homes free.

Know the Importance of Ideal Moods
Whether chasing promotions in a Career or trying to create a master work with a Skill, being in the Ideal Mood will help your Sim do better work. Every Skill and Career has one, so learning how to get your Sim in the right mood is essential to having a high-earning Sim.

Big Earners

If you want your Sim to be rich without cheating, these are the methods that can best create wealth. At minimum, you'll want enough to sustain a Sim family and give them a decent life. Here is a list of the biggest money-making methods in the game. While I'm not really trying to rank them, those that make less are toward the bottom.

Open a Business
The Sims 4's Get to Work Expansion greatly expands on the means of making money in the game, because players can sell anything they can make in the game in their own shop through Open for Business Retail features. Click the link to learn more about opening your own shop and managing employees.

Careers
Getting a Job is an obvious choice. It's better when a Sim requires Skills that are also good at generating money, and gives them means of making even more. Take Painter for example - its pay is actually low, but they tend to earn more when at home and working their trade, because paintings can sell for thousands. They get better easels from the Career and can thus paint more Masterpieces. In our Careers Guide, you can see a table of the highest-earning Careers and compare the hours and days worked per week, along with tips on individual Career Tracks and how to get in the right mood.

Gardening
Gardening is one of the most involved Skills in the game, given the need to graft plants and maybe even enter a rocketship to complete your collection and make your dream garden. This is perhaps the biggest earner on the list, though you need to stay on top of it as plants can die. If your goal is only to make money, focus on produce that sells for more on an individual level. See the plant list in the linked gardning guide to get an idea. In general roses or pomegrantes are accessible and make more than apples and spinach.

Painting
Painting is great, in that you start generating lump sums of money as soon as you finish your first piece that is above-average in quality. What's really nice is that you can generate money on-demand, allowing you to buy your Sims all they need to live.

Writing
The Writing Skill gives players a way to make residual income. When writing a new book (which takes only 4 hours), your Sim will be able to publish it and earn money every day on their book. This can generate gobs of money over time, and you may even have so many books generating cash that it won't show the newer books in the notification window. One of the best ways of making money in The Sims 4.

Active Careers
Players who own Get to Work are also able to pursue the Doctor, Scientist, and Detective Active Careers to earn money. These are more involved, as the more tasks you complete on a given workday, the more progress you earn toward your next promotion. They are all entertaining in their own ways, but Scientist has the most going for it.

Fishing
Like Painting, Fishing is a free form of making money on demand. Fishing will earn you gobs of cash once you're catching the big ones available at later skill levels. Be sure to sell your fish, because them being in your inventory raises a household's bills! It is not as reliable as necesary though, and you have to sell stacks of fish one at a time. This is why I've moved it down the list. In general a big problem is you need to head to fishing spots like the one that has treefish in Sylvan Glade, or else you will not make as much.

Programming
Programming provides steady money should you use your Sim's skills to occasionally hack, while making plugins and doing freelance work on the side. Overall it's not as good as others, but can provide plenty to live on.

Comedy
The Comedy Skill is not a huge money-maker, but it's certainly enough to sustain a Sim family. Players can perform comedy routines at parties and night clubs, but will earn best by purchasing a microphone for the park and entertaining large crowds. Learn more in the Comedy Skill Guide.

Enough to Live On

These means of making money are not as potent as those above, but may help a Sim have enough to live on or at least earn some side money. Still, you should do what you enjoy and pursue one of these if they suit your fancy. The Sims is all about directing and observing a life or living out a fantasy.

Musical Instruments
Guitar, Piano, and Violin are all means of making cash by earning tips and licensing songs (one at a time). Enough to live on, but not enough to become very wealthy. None of the instruments shine on their own, though you may make decent cash if your Sim becomes a master of all three and is able to license more than one at a time. Writing a song takes a very long time, and its payoff is fairly low, hence its low position on this list.

Video Gaming
Video Gamers can enter tournaments once every several hours and when their Skill is high, they'll win cash prizes. Although professional gamers in reality can be rich, Sims don't have that opportunity. Still, it's a stay-at-home way of making cash.

Collecting
Living off Collecting takes a bit of luck. You're digging rocks, catching insects if you own Outdoor Retreat, and perhaps trying to track down rare Elements. Many of the other Skills have associated Collections, but merely running about harvesting wild plants, getting MySims trophies, and generally living off what can be found falls under this category. Some finds will yield you nearly a thousand, but many others will underwhelm. Collecting is a way to make side money at the moment.

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Gameplay Overhaul Mod

Burglars, Dine Out, Gardening improvements and more! Support my project to improve The Sims 4's gameplay on Patreon.