Friday 12 December 2008

Finances in Sullivan

I just thought I would run down how finances work in Sullivan. As I mentioned previously, I've never liked how easy it is to earn money and build a huge fortune in TS2. With Sullivan, I've put some rules in place that make it not so easy.

First of all, every Sim in Sullivan has a bank account with Monique's computer. They don't put money in it with any sort of regularity or system but usually if they get a huge payout at work, they'll put all of it in there if they don't need it. Before a Sim dies, I make sure the money in their account gets dispersed among their children. I also use it to make payments for all the things I'm about to list.

Any Sim in Sullivan can take a loan out, also using Monique's computer, at any time for any reason they wish. This usually ends up being a mortgage for a house but Nathaniel and Joanne took out a small loan for farm equipment when they were first starting out and various other Sims have taken out loans for furniture and private school fees.

Sims who are employed in full-time jobs have to pay taxes once per rotation. Taxes are 10% of total income and couples pay jointly.

All Sims who own their own homes must now pay property tax. This is bundled in with their income tax, so Sims pay 10% of their income + monetary value of their property (I use the button in Buy/Build mode to check this).

An immigration fee of $3000 must be paid for any townie or NPC I want to move in or marry in to a household.

Public school is free. Private school is very expensive. The fees are $3000 per rotation for the first child and $1000 per rotation for each additional child. When Sacha and Emmy's kids were still in school, they would spend almost everything they earned putting the kids through school. They must have been relieved when Pascal decided not to go to college, because my Sims have to pay for that too.

How much Sims pay for college depends on how many scholarships they earn. If their parents can't afford the fees, they don't get enough scholarships or don't have the want, they don't go.

If they earn 4 scholarships, they pay $2000 per rotation.
If they earn 6 scholarships, they pay $1000 per rotation.
If they earn 8 scholarships, I consider that a full scholarship and they attend for free.

I created the last category especially for Raffaella. She's the only Sim who's earned it so far but she worked really hard during high school and I thought that kids who do work that hard should be rewarded.

I also use Monique's child support hack so that absent parents have to pay for a child's rearing. The amount and frequency of payment decreases as the child gets older.

Adoption incurs a one-time fee of $10,000 for an infant, $5000 for a toddler and $3000 for a child. I haven't used this yet but I might soon.

Marriage licenses cost $500. If Sims get married at home, there's no additional fee but if they get married at the chapel or one of the parks, there is an extra charge.

I also use the Taxi Charges Money mod and the Vehicles Cost Money To Drive hack. Within the neighbourhood, the taxi charges by distance. Travel to other subhoods is $35. The cost of car trips is generally static and depends on the age of the car.

If you've got any questions, just leave a comment and I'll get back to you. :)

15 comments:

  1. I really like your financial system for Sullivan. It bugs me too that it's so easy for sims to get rich.

    BTW, I'm SO gonna "borrow" a few of your ideas again ;)

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  2. These are really great ideas! I'm always trying to find ways to take more money away from my Sims! I just instated my first round of taxes (only once every four years) and the Riley family had to pay $36,000!!! That just might be a bit too expensive, but we'll see ;)

    I use Monique's computer too! It's invaluable!

    Great ideas! :)

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  3. CissieMae, I look forward to seeing how my ideas work out in your hood, so I hope you'll share it.

    Laura, thanks! Wow, $36,000! How are you calculating your taxes? With most of my Sims currently, it works out to less than $1000 a rotation but people like Emmy, Sacha and Nelson (all top of their careers) have had quite a large chunk taken.

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  4. Very cool! I always have the best intentions with these things, but get scatterbrained or busy and forget. That, or I do it, and just think it's a hassle. I need to do something, though, sims are too loaded, even with no 20k and giving money to kids! Yikes.

    I had no idea Monique's PC had been updated for AL. Will have to track it down...

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  5. I've tried doing stuff like this before and gave up because I found it too much work. This time, I just told myself I'd stick to it as best I could and be willing to change the rules down the line if I didn't like them. The college rules, for example.

    Good luck - I tried to track the computer down for this thread but couldn't find it. I was looking at it last night though and it doesn't have the roommate option on it, so I think it's only FT it's been updated for. It still works though. I think it was updated by Chaavik or something like that, if that helps.

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  6. This round I did 20%, and that's a property tax rather than an income tax (with exemptions for children and such). I've already decided that's way too much, lol! So next time it'll be 10%.

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  7. Ah, I see - property tax makes sense. I was wondering how your Sims were making so much money in 4 years!

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  8. Very nice blog and interesting financial system. I am planning on implementing taxes in Windlebridge next rotation, and I will use Moniques computer if Inge at Simlogical isn't developing her financial system further. I like her system for lot owning a lot.

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  9. I haven't heard about Inge's financial system. I should go and check it out.

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  10. I've been checking out several blogs lately to get more ideas about running a hood - thanks for your description about the financial system of your hood. I'm too lazy to implement such a strict system of taxes, but I like reading about it!

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  11. It absolutely needs to be something that fits with your style of play or else you won't keep up with it. I created mine by looking at other blogs and then taking out stuff I knew I'd be too lazy/absent-minded to do!

    Thanks for reading. :)

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  12. Reading about different blogger's financial policies I wonder when you come up with, for example, the private school fee, does it take a while to see if it is an amount that seems to work well? Sims' money is just so different from the dollar, you know, with them making so much more per day.

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  13. I pretty much just pulled most of these figures out of the air or took them from other bloggers but always with the intention of adjusting them along the way if it was too easy or too difficult.

    Right now, I'm pondering whether or not to charge more for University from this round on. Private school fees do not make much of a dent in the funds of most of my families either, so I'll rethink that too.

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  14. I usually use Excel for most of my financial stuff as well as my census and real estate information. Based on the feedback I have seen regarding Flashnote I think I will begin using this for my blogging notes too.

    You are very detailed in how you play your game. Thank you for sharing and allowing us to share in some of these ideas.

    ChocolateCity Sims...

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  15. You're welcome!

    I can use Excel for a few things I have to do at school (I'm a teacher) but every time I've sat down to make a spreadsheet, I fail. There are a few things in my Flashnote that probably would work better in a spreadsheet but Flashnote loads so quickly and is so convenient that I'm not too bothered by that.

    By the way, I checked out your blog yesterday and added it to my Google Reader. :)

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