Bill

Bills are present in The Sims series of games, and must be paid in order to avoid a visit from the repo-man, who will repossess (take) household items in place of payment. Bills are paid using simoleons held in the family's account. If there is not enough money in the account to cover the cost of the bill, the bill cannot be paid. The value of the bill is determined by the value of the lot, including all items on the lot.

The Sims

In The Sims, bills are delivered every three days. To pay the bill, you must first direct a sim to remove the bills from the mailbox, and then direct a sim to pay them. Children and adults can remove bills from the mailbox, but only adults are allowed to pay them.

The Sims 2

Base Game

In The Sims 2, bills are delivered to the lot's mailbox on Tuesday and Thursday at 10:00 am. Sims will have four days to pay the bills, therefore the Repoman will only come on a Saturday or Monday at 10:00 am. Like in The Sims, bills must be paid by removing the bills from the letterbox first, and them paying them. Teens and older can pay bills.

The Sims 2: University

In University, bills are delivered to college sub-neighbourhoods every three days. On campus, bills are delivered to residential lots, dormitories and greek houses.

The Sims 2: Seasons

Seasons introduced the ability to pay bills by clicking on the mailbox and selecting "Pay All Bills" (meaning that any bills not in the mailbox would be paid), though the bills must still be removed from the mailbox before they can be paid.

The Sims 2: Mansion & Garden Stuff

In Mansion & Garden Stuff, purchasing "green sources" has been noted to reduce bills.

The Sims 3

The options when clicking on the Mailbox in The Sims 3

Base Game

In The Sims 3, bills are delivered to the lot's mailbox on Monday and Thursday at around 8:00 am. Teens and older can pay bills. The "Pay All Bills" feature has returned from The Sims 2: Seasons and can be chosed from the pie-menu on the mailbox.

The Sims 3: World Adventures

In World Adventures, bills and the repo-man can be "devastated" using the No Bills Ever lifetime reward. This costs 15,000 lifetime happiness points.

The Sims 3: Ambitions

Like in The Sims 2: Mansion & Garden Stuff, it is thought that purchasing "green sources" in Ambitions can help reduce the bill amount, by 0.2% per solar panel and up to 2% per windmill.

Not Paying Bills

After a period of time, bills will begin to change colors as they become overdue. Bills start out as a white color, then change to yellow, then orange, then eventually red. After several days of non-payment, a message will appear warning the player of delinquency. In The Sims 3, the player is given the option to pay the bills then.

If the bills are not paid before the end of that day, the bills will explode and a Repo-man will arrive on the lot and repossess items roughly equal in value to the debt owed and in some cases more. The Repo-man in The Sims 3 will repossess the item that is closest to the debt but not under it, meaning he will almost always repossess items that are worth more than the bill payment was.

• 

  Colored bills in The Sims

• 

  The Repo Man in The Sims, repossessing a stove