Hi there! You are currently browsing as a guest. Why not create an account? Then you get less ads, can thank creators, post feedback, keep a list of your favourites, and more!
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#1 Old 11th Jan 2018 at 12:48 PM
Default Family Funds vs Individual Funds
One thing that has always frustrated me a little is that there's no easy way of separating out individual sims's earnings from the family funds - even the game is able to recognise this for the earned x amount memories. It makes it difficult to know which sims within a household have money, and how much

It's not always relevant. If I have a single sim household, or perhaps a young couple with or without children - I'm not necessarily going to want to separate their funds. A lot of couples have a joint account for food/furnishings/holidays/bills etc, and many are probably saving towards similar things too - so these amounts can just sit in family funds. It gets a little more complicated when children start getting money for report cards, or for selling their art - because that's their money, and that shouldn't go on bills - and I might not want them to spend it immediately. I'd like to be able to put that in their own account - along with any allowance their parents give them - but at the moment I'm having to record all this manually and deduct the amount from family funds. The same goes for teens with their jobs - unless the family is very poor, or their parents expect them to make a contribution to the living expenses - why shouldn't they keep their money?

Then there's the more complicated situation of say, two friends sharing an apartment and saving for their own houses, or a sim moving in with a relative while they save for their own place. I would like a central family funds account for bills, taxes, and food still, but I'd also like for them to be able to save any extra money for that house. Again, at the moment, I'm manually deducting 50% of their wages using the family funds cheat and recording it on a spreadsheet to simulate their savings account.

How do you manage individual savings - if indeed you bother?
Advertisement
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#2 Old 11th Jan 2018 at 12:53 PM
You can have a real saving account. Monique's computer has online banking and each sim can deposit money into their own account. The main issue is that you can only deposit set amounts so it won't be exact plus it gains interest which you may or may not want. I certainly wouldn't be bothered to cheat and use sheets. If their wage was $380 I might decide $350 is close enough with the interest and say the other went towards shared bills.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#3 Old 11th Jan 2018 at 1:01 PM
I've got Monique's computer, but it's the fixed amounts that put me off using it. I didn't realise/remember that it allowed interest though, so that might be something I need to reconsider.
Forum Resident
#4 Old 11th Jan 2018 at 3:00 PM
This has been at the back of my mind and only remembered it now. I always just looked at it optimistically by thinking that the 20,000 hand out when they move out is what they earned q u q

I didnt know about Monique's computer either so thank you so much @joandsarah77
Mad Poster
#5 Old 11th Jan 2018 at 4:18 PM Last edited by gummilutt : 12th Jan 2018 at 3:32 PM. Reason: Fixing brainfart
I use Monique's computer in combination with my rotation notes. In households where money should be separate, I keep track in my rotation notes and then deposit when it reaches a quantity that can be deposited. So for example if a child gets 215, I'll have them deposit 200 and write down 15. For teens with jobs I tend to wait a few days, add it up in notes and then deposit once it gets to 1000 or something. A bit fiddly, yeah, but it works since as far as I know there's no alternative.

What really bugs me is that any money earned on a OFB business counts towards every controllable Sim present. So if a teen helps out in the family store, they'll suddenly remember earning lots of money when I would argue that money does not count. I wish it only counted towards the owner of the store. Will try to fix it at some point, but I have a sneaking suspicion that a lua will be involved since a lot of that stuff is dealt with by luas. So we'll see how far I get

Apparently my brain thought that memories can own stores, but I'm pretty sure only owners can own stores.

Creations can be found on my on tumblr.
Mad Poster
#6 Old 11th Jan 2018 at 4:45 PM
One of my Sims brought her cat along to an owned business and it got a memory of earning money. I found that hilarious, particularly as all it did was sleep on the counter all the time.


I'm secretly a Bulbasaur. | Formerly known as ihatemandatoryregister

Looking for SimWardrobe's mods? | Or Dizzy's? | Faiuwle/rufio's too! | smorbie1's Chris Hatch archives
Forum Resident
#7 Old 11th Jan 2018 at 5:05 PM
@ihatemandatoryregister well....cats do own everything according to them =))
Mad Poster
#8 Old 11th Jan 2018 at 6:00 PM
Cats know who they own, and why. Humans are there to please the cat and make sure it's happy.

"MEOW! Wake up, human! It's time to feed me!" is an example of this concept. At 5:30 in the morning.

Receptacle Refugee & Resident Polar Bear
"Get out of my way, young'un, I'm a ninja!"
Grave Matters: The funeral podium is available here: https://www.mediafire.com/file/e6tj...albits.zip/file
My other downloads are here: https://app.mediafire.com/myfiles
Theorist
#9 Old 11th Jan 2018 at 6:51 PM
Quote: Originally posted by ihatemandatoryregister
One of my Sims brought her cat along to an owned business and it got a memory of earning money. I found that hilarious, particularly as all it did was sleep on the counter all the time.


That is so in-character for a cat! Of course I'm doing all the hard work here!
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#10 Old 11th Jan 2018 at 9:36 PM
Which both of my cats did this morning! It wasn't 5.30 but it was still early and I did not want to get up yet. <_< You know who got up and did whose bidding.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Field Researcher
#11 Old 11th Jan 2018 at 11:56 PM
First of all, I love that this has turned into a cat appreciation thread. They're the household leaders!

Second -- I bother with familyfunds when I have teenaged Sims that I'm planning to send to college, and I use Monique's computer for that. They get all the money they've earned at their job, in addition to whatever money their parent(s) can contribute.
Recently I've had two Sims divorce but still cohabitate, something I've never really played with. I'm thinking that I need a way to separate funds for them (via Monique's computer), but the woman (a witch) doesn't work and spends all her time at home rearing the children and learning wicked spells, so I'm not sure how I'd divide the financials. Perhaps some sort of "child support" plan?
Forum Resident
#12 Old 12th Jan 2018 at 6:10 AM
Um...Is now a bad time to mention that there are currently three dogs in my household?

Anyway, I have not used Monique's computer before. I keep thinking about it, but it's never been a necessity for me. However, I do have a way to separate funds that my teen sims earn when they have jobs. Every time my teen returns, I pay attention to what they've earned for the day. Then I grab an item (or items) that corresponds with that amount and drop it into their inventory.

For my physical health, I can't eat cheesecake everyday.
For my mental health, I imagine eating cheesecake everyday.
It's a delicate balance.
Mad Poster
#13 Old 12th Jan 2018 at 6:52 AM
That's ok. Dogs are usually trained to see the cat as the leader pretty easily. XD
Mad Poster
#14 Old 12th Jan 2018 at 9:45 AM
Oops. Didn't mean to derail the thread.

I'm secretly a Bulbasaur. | Formerly known as ihatemandatoryregister

Looking for SimWardrobe's mods? | Or Dizzy's? | Faiuwle/rufio's too! | smorbie1's Chris Hatch archives
Mad Poster
#15 Old 12th Jan 2018 at 9:51 AM
Quote: Originally posted by ihatemandatoryregister
Oops. Didn't mean to derail the thread.


Derailment complete.
Screenshots
Mad Poster
#16 Old 12th Jan 2018 at 10:17 AM
Well, since we're on the topic of cats, I don't think mine appreciates my taste in music.


I'm secretly a Bulbasaur. | Formerly known as ihatemandatoryregister

Looking for SimWardrobe's mods? | Or Dizzy's? | Faiuwle/rufio's too! | smorbie1's Chris Hatch archives
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#17 Old 12th Jan 2018 at 11:41 AM
@Gumilutt - That now strikes me as being the obvious way to work it. I think I'm going to do adopt that going forward, then I at least won't confuse myself with my notes. In theory, at least.

@Ihatemandatoryregister - Of course the cat earned the money. That's what cats do. And all that money is being spent on the cat, right?
Forum Resident
#18 Old 12th Jan 2018 at 4:59 PM
I use Monique's computer alongside Christianluv's Wallet. Adults can bank their whole pay cheque with the computer, but for kids who don't earn that much, the Wallet is more useful because you can start depositing money with only $15. I also use SimWardrobe chequebook for when Sims want to pay large things like taxes. It makes it easier for the banker to see who has paid what. I keep records in their individual bio's as well as recording financial information on the household's info screen as I play. A lodger can bank all their earnings after deducting for things like rent and keep it seperate from household funds. They'll also keep a couple of simoleons in the Wallet so they can give payments to friends, or pay individually for what they want when they go shopping. (The wallet will just add the cash to the household funds when they withdraw) Teens buy their phones and games this way, with money they have saved from working, school rewards, doing errands or from Birthday money that has been given to them (via the Wallet). Using the three mods and also recording info within the game makes the economic system less time consuming to play.

I also use Monique's Automatic Payment Mod for regular payments on things like membership subscriptions to clubs and things, or for share dividends for investors who want to support local companies. It can also provide loan facilities fromm $0 to $30,00. Like the child support mod, you have to be aware that they'll pay twice if you play your neighbourhood in rotation. It's all much more fiddly than Sims 1 who had the better system for finances in the Sims.
Lab Assistant
#19 Old 13th Jan 2018 at 6:38 PM
I always keep track of my Sims money - I have a sheet of paper with all of their money on it and each time they get/spend some I update their amount. It's important to me that their money is kept separate! I don't keep track when money for bills or groceries goes out though - at the end of the day I add up all their totals, check it against the household total, and if it's different I divide the difference between the number of Sims in the house and take equal parts from each Sim.
Parents pay the share for themselves and all of their children until the children become adults and start paying for themselves (unless the family is particularly poor and need every penny, or if they are very well off and money doesn't matter to them).

I use their inventories as a bank - if a parent or grandparent wants to put some money towards the kids future, they buy a sculpture to go into the kids inventory so it doesn't get spent. I also find it useful for if a Sim needs to give money to someone in another household - they buy sculptures to the amount they want to transfer and then give it as a gift.

I also keep track of property shares because often my older teen and young adult Sims can't afford their own place and have to buy houses together as roommates. I keep track of how much they each put towards the house (e.g. Sim A paid 40% and Sim B paid 60%), and when they move out the new value of the house is split into those same percentages for the sale. If one roommate wants to move out and the other wants to stay there, the one who stays has to buy the other out in order to own 100% of the house. (Hope that makes sense!)

Alternatively, if one Sim already owns their own house with a spare room they can take in a tenant who pays them rent.
Mad Poster
#20 Old 13th Jan 2018 at 6:53 PM
On the rare occasion that I want to keep finances separate within a household I use these coins by Almighty Hat. As the smallest coin is $10 I find that it works for children and teenagers - to separate teens' earning from the household funds, as "pocket money", for the money that they sometimes get from school pop ups and/or from money given to them by relatives - and as the coins and coin stacks range up to $30,000 it is convenient for bigger amounts as well, such as for saving up to buy a house or business or to move out into a rental apartment.

I put them in my sims' inventories, which does have the downside that it all disappears if they die unexpectedly (which is rare-ish in my game, but does happen on occasion). So I also keep track of the amount that they have in their inventories in the Word document where I track details about the households and individual sims, so that I can use money cheats to return the money to their relatives if they die suddenly.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#21 Old 13th Jan 2018 at 9:45 PM
I also have pcsims money boxes from their bank set-but I tend to forget to use them. I keep meaning to give the kids pocket money and actually put money in them.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Instructor
#22 Old 18th Jan 2018 at 9:30 PM
I play historical when I do get the chance to play, and I use a combination of Christianluv's Wallet and Almighty Hat's Coins. I try to make payments and adjustments on the fly for servant's wages, dowries, bribes, etc. As soon as she becomes a teen, a girl's father digs into the family account and purchases coins, which he then gives to his daughter and she places in her inventory for her dowry. If the family for some reason experiences an especially abundant crop or some other windfall, coins are quietly purchased through "channels" and then squirreled away in a hiding place, where the hoard can be added to as the family experiences more luck, or if they suffer a bout of bad luck, they have a bit to draw on to see them through the hard times.
Any surplus money over and above a household's strict starting allowance after initial set up gets sent to the priest/vicar with Christianluv's Wallet to help the church with their expenses, thus neatly eliminating the problem of too much money for some of those damned peasants!

Find all of my Challenges in MTS Sims 2 Challenges "Ye Olde" Section:
Vllygrl's By George! Regency Play Style/Challenge; Regency/Victorian ROS;
The Medieval Charter Challenge & ROS for MCC;
The Crown of Laurels Challenge; & Besieged! New Medieval Challenge & Medieval ROS.
Back to top