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. It is revealed in The Sims 2 that Simoleons are 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. This is the result of lower time that a Sim has to earn money in the series compared to a real life person; usually items of daily duration are more expensive, while durable objects or house structures are cheaper.

In SimCity, a stretch of road is §10 per segment and a Police Department §500. One might think of a SimCity § as equivalent to The Sims §1,000.

In another Maxis game, Spore, the Sporebuck symbol in space stage (§) is the same symbol as a Simoleon (§).

In The Sims Medieval, Simoleons are known as Simoles although the § character is still used in a similar manner to The Sims 3.

How much money can you hold?
In The Sims 3 for Windows and Mac OS X, Sims can hold 8 digits of Simoleons (Up to §99,999,999). However, console versions of The Sims (Xbox and GameCube only), The Sims Bustin' Out, The Urbz: Sims in the City and The Sims 2 and The Sims 2 Pets only allow 6 digits of Simoleons (Up to §999,999). In The Sims 3 (base game) for console, it is also possible to hold up to 8 digits of Simoleons as well.

Making money
A minimum amount of money is needed for all Sims to stay alive. Hunger/thirst is the main concern out of all the needs, as it is the only need that can be fatal directly. Also, income is required to pay bills, and not paying results in a visit from the repo-man (In the handheld versions of The Sims Bustin' Out and The Urbz: Sims in the City, the player is arrested instead).

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

In The Sims 2 Apartment Life, new starting money rule has been added. The amount of starting money depends on age of Sims in the family.

In The Sims 3 and The Sims 3 for console, Sims will start at §16,500 to §30,500/§26,500 depending on the Sims created. For example, if you made a Sim called Rebecca Miller in CAS and did not add any additional Sims, the household will start with §16,500. However, in The Sims Medieval, Hero Sims will start with §1,000 instead of §16,500 in The Sims 3.

This is the table used to show how many Simoleons that the household will start with depending on how many Sims were created in CAS in The Sims 3 and the PS3/Xbox 360. Note: The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of The Sims 3 only allow up to 6 Sims so §28,500 and §30,500 (7-8 Sims) only apply to Windows and Mac OS X.

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 can be one to make money though it is not as steady as the income from a regular job as the Sim does not get paid a salary.

Investments are another way Sims can earn money. A Sim can buy a partnership into 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 pretty much every community lot, being challenged to upgrade it in order to make even more money.

Some Sims can make money through performance. Sims with an instrument skill, for example, can collect tips while playing. There are a number of crafts Sims can partake in, such as painting or inventing, where the object they create or grow can then be sold.

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. 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 unpatched version and can be used over again with out opening a new cheat box e.g. klapaucius !;!;!)

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)
 * (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 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. 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.
 * In the original PS2 version of The Sims, players can only hold 5 digits of Simoleons and if the player had over 100,000 Simoleons, the game would only read it as §99,999 due to the game unable to display 6 digits but The Sims still detects that the player has over 100,000 Simoleons. 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 unless in Medieval if the 2 hero Sims are married, they will share money.
 * If The Urbz: Sims in the City is inserted in a DS, DS Lite or DSi/DSi XL, the icon of the game will show a Simoleon sign (§). The DS 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 articles

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