Simoleon

The Simoleon (§) is the unit of currency used in the SimCity and The Sims series. It is assumed to be the national currency of SimNation. While in The Sims, Simoleons resembled US dollar bills, The Sims 2 onwards made them red, orange, and white.

Its value can vary between titles, and doesn't consistently reflect any real-life currency (such as the US dollar or British pound), as many of the more expensive items are marked down in price, while some of the cheapest may be marked up; for example, in The Sims 2 an SUV costs approx. §4000, while a pizza costs §40. Usually, items of limited duration are more expensive, while durable objects or house structures are cheaper. This reflects the fact that a Sim has less time to earn money in the series than would be available in real life. Much like the real world, better quality items are generally more expensive. Also, the simoleon has no sub-units; the only way something can cost less than §1 is for it to be free.

In SimCity, a stretch of road is §10 per segment and a Police Department §500. According to the SimCity 2000 "City Value" menu, one § unit that represents the cost of a building actually equals §1,000.

In another Maxis game, Spore, the Sporebuck symbol in both the Civilization and Space Stages (§) is the same symbol as a Simoleon (§).

In The Sims Medieval, Simoleons are known as Simoles although the § character is still used to represent them.

How much money can Sims have?
In The Sims 3 for Windows and Mac OS X, and The Sims 3 for console, 8 digits (up to §99,999,999) can be displayed, while earlier Windows games can show up to 7 digits.

Console versions of The Sims, The Sims Bustin' Out, The Urbz: Sims in the City, The Sims 2, and The Sims 2: Pets only display 6 digits.

Starting money
In The Sims, The Sims 2 and The Sims Stories, families will start with §20,000.

In The Sims 2: Apartment Life, a new rule for figuring starting money has been added. The amount of starting money depends on the number of Sims in the family and their ages.

In The Sims 3 and The Sims 3 for console, a household will start with §16,500 to §30,500/§26,500 depending the on number of Sims created and their ages. For example, a single-Sim household made in CAS will start with §16,500.

In The Sims Medieval, Hero Sims will start with §1,000.

In The Sims 4, a household starts with §20,000, plus §2,000 for each Sim beyond the first.

Making money
Sims need a minimum amount of money in order to buy food and pay their bills. Leaving bills unpaid for too long results in either a visit from the repo-man or in electricity and water systems being shut. (In the handheld versions of The Sims Bustin' Out and The Urbz: Sims in the City, Sims/Urbz who skip their bills are arrested instead.)

Working for money
There are several ways for Sims to receive a steady income. The usual way is to work in a career or profession that gives the Sim a regular salary or stipend. Owning a business is another way to make money, though income from a business is not as steady as the income from a regular job, as the Sim does not get paid a salary.

Some Sims can make money through creative endeavors, such as painting or writing. In The Sims 2: University and The Sims 3 Sims can collect tips while playing an instrument. There are a number of crafts Sims can partake in, where the objects they create can be sold.

Investments are another way Sims can earn money. A Sim can buy a partnership in one of the rabbit holes in a neighborhood and collect weekly earnings. As of Ambitions, Investments are not limited to rabbit holes, and Sims can buy into almost every community lot, being challenged to upgrade it in order to make even more money.

Sims can make money by completing opportunities and choosing wisely when given a career chance card.

Inheriting money
In The Sims 2, family members and best friends can inherit money on the death of a Sim. How much a Sim will inherit depends on three things; the deceased Sim's aspiration level at death, the type of relationship the Sim had with the deceased, and the Sim's lifetime relationship with the deceased.

Found money
Sometimes money is just lying on the ground. Random phone calls may be able to net Sims a few extra Simoleons. Collecting objects that are littered around the neighborhood could net a Sim some money. One Sim's trash is another Sim's Simoleons! Sims can rummage through garbage and occasionally find something worthy.

Money grows on trees. The money tree grows Simoleons. With some care Sims can "rake" in the cash. Money falls from the sky when Sims wish for wealth from the Genie or the Wishing Well.

Illegal gains
Some Sims are born to steal. Kleptomaniacs can steal objects that they can then use, sell or give back to the original owner. Fraudulent Sims can try their hand at counterfeiting. Genuine Buck's Famous Counterfeiting Machine is an aspiration reward that allows a Sim to print bills.

Some players also like to take the easy route. A player can move their Sim(s) into another occupied house and then move the existing members out enabling the player's Sim(s) to steal their house and money without the need of cheats.

The Sims

 * rosebud or klapaucius - 1,000 Simoleons ("klapaucius" only works in the unpatched version. Said cheats can be used over again with out opening a new cheat box by typing in !;!;!;x and holding Enter. E.g. klapaucius !;!;!;!;!;!x)

The Sims 2 and The Sims 3

 * kaching - 1,000 Simoleons
 * motherlode - 50,000 Simoleons
 * The Sims 2:
 * familyfunds (family name) (+/-)(amount)
 * (e.g. familyfunds Goth +10000 gives the Goth family 10,000 Simoleons; familyfunds Goth -10000 takes 10,000 Simoleons from the Goth family)


 * The Sims 3:
 * familyfunds (family name) (amount)
 * freerealestate on/off
 * (e.g. familyfunds Bachelor 2000 sets the Bachelor family funds to 2,000 Simoleons). For familyfunds to work in The Sims 3, testingcheatsenabled needs to be activated. Unlike The Sims 2, this cheat can only be used when a family is moved into a lot.

Trivia

 * The name originates from the legitimate word, simolean/samolean found to be used as far back as 1895. The word has an uncertain origin.
 * The symbol can often be typed by holding in the Alt key and typing 21 on the numeric keypad. This requires that NumLock be turned on, and the symbol that appears may depend on which font is in use. If NumLock is off, typing 21 on the numeric keypad while holding in both Shift and Alt may work. On keyboards with an AltGr key, it can be typed by using AltGr + Shift + S, and on some European keyboards a simple Shift + ½ will do, while on other European keyboards it is the opposite (making it so pressing the key gives § and pressing the key+shift gives a ½). The symbol can also be typed on the Macintosh operating system by pressing Option(Alt.) + 6 without using the number pad.
 * The name for the § is the 'section sign' and is most often used to split sections of text. It is often encountered in legal documents.
 * Some computer users use $ (dollar sign) instead of § (Section sign) to represent Simoleons probably due to the user unable to type the § character.
 * In the original PS2 version of The Sims, the funds display will only show 5 digits, so if the family had over 100,000 Simoleons, it would be displayed as §99,999. However, the full amount would still be available. This was fixed in the GameCube and Xbox versions of The Sims and in the PS2 versions of The Sims Bustin' Out and The Urbz: Sims in the City.
 * In The Urbz: Sims in the City and The Sims Medieval, Sims made by players do not share money. However, in The Sims Medieval, if two Hero Sims get married, they will share their funds.
 * If The Urbz: Sims in the City is inserted in a DS, DS Lite or DSi/DSi XL or 3DS, the icon of the game will show a Simoleon sign (§). The DS or DS Lite must be in Manual Mode to see the icon or The Urbz: Sims in the City will start if the DS is turned on.

Related game guides

 * Earning simoleons: player tips on making money in The Sims series.