Humble Beginnings 2/28/25

 Ricky Cormier and Irene Franklin moved into their new home and immediately got engaged.  That's as far as it went, as neither of them rolled a want to get married.  Neither has been faithful, so who knows how long this relationship will last.  They did, however, have some success with their careers (they're both in Slacker), each reach level nine, and just needing a friend or two to make it to the top.  Austin became a teen and rolled the LTW for Education, so he began working on AP classes right away.  He's finished four classes, and has one day remaining before he grows up, so he might get another one in before he goes off to Uni.  At the end of winter, Irene is an elder (with Ricky close behind her), Jesse is a child, and the family has $56,027.  They will remain Upper Middle Class.

Happy Simming!

Humble Beginnings 2/25/25

 Nicole Tang decided to try to get her thoughts away from Dylan by going all in with Jerry and so began dating him seriously.  She did not find any openings for her LTW of Entertainment initially, so she took a job in Law Enforcement.  She did pretty well, scoring a couple of promotions, before finding Entertainment and switching.  Eventually, she asked Jerry to move in.  He is unemployed, but brought in $16,000, so that's okay.  He has the LTW for Music, so he's currently working on a community college degree full-time, and he's nearly finished.  (He probably would have finished if he hadn't become trapped in the neighbor's apartment during one of their dates and been stuck there until Nicole could befriend the neighbor enough to let her into his apartment, thereby freeing Jerry lol.)  In any event, the couple has no immediate plans to get married or start a family and their bank balance is $17,548 after expenses, so they'll continue as Working Class.

Ryan Carter moved into his Working Class apartment and immediately got to work climbing the career ladder.  He attained several promotions during the week, allowing him to furnish his apartment to his liking, as well as cover his other expenses.  Amy Edwards invited him on an outing and later he threw a party that he invited her to and, thanks to her making all the advances lol, they are now in crush.  We'll see what happens when she gets played at the university.  At the end of winter, Ryan has $12,408, which is halfway to getting leveled up to Lower Middle.  Not too shabby!

Happy Simming!

Humble Beginnings 2/24/25

 After Dalton Duncan's wife left him for Brandon Baxter (and took half their savings with her), he did his best to carry on for his daughter's sake.  He earned all the skills he needed for his final promotion, but was unable to bring his friend count up in time.  Sadly, he passed away at the age of 65.  Dana, who became a teen at the beginning of winter, rolling a LTW for Athletic, will be moving in with her mother and Brandon (on Friday morning of their week to keep aging consistent).  I computed Dana's net worth by combining the household cash with their $2500 savings and the $2500 she got from Dalton's life insurance, deducting the property taxes for the week, and then adding the lot value after putting all possessions in inventory.  The total is $43,545.  This is the amount I will give her when she reaches adulthood and moves out on her own.  It makes sense to me because Dalton's son Dylan is already well off and he certainly would not want Danielle to get her hands on anything, as he hated her.  I did consider just keeping Dana in the house, since teens can live on their own, but given that her mother and adult brother are still alive, it's more realistic that she would move in with one of them until she grows up.

Brandon Baxter and Danielle Duncan are off to a rocky start for their relationship.  Brandon made up with all the women he'd previously been seeing (except for Irene who still comes by to kick the trash every day) and even added a couple more to his tally.  Danielle is not any better; she's hooking up with Count BJ, who is Brandon's sister's boyfriend, as well as calling Paul Edwards (who is still in prison) on a daily basis, not to mention trying to get friendly with George McCarthy, who is Brandon's other sister's husband.  Brandon has also rolled the want to get engaged to Andi Jones (she rolled the want also, as well as the want to get married to him), so it's fairly likely that his relationship with Danielle will end in disaster, just like his last one.  All of this chaos is what poor Dana had to move into.  She mostly just keeps to herself and plays with the animals.  She has mended fences with her mother to a certain extent, but they're still not friends.  She's really just biding her time until she can move out on her own.  After expenses, the family has $3892 and will remain Lower Middle.

Andi Jones was prepared to jump right into marriage with Brandon, but there was one little hiccup - she discovered she was pregnant with Makoto's baby.  Before the baby was even born, Makoto caught her with Brandon and their relationship was all but over.  I had to keep him in the household until the end of the week to keep aging consistent, so I figured he might as well move on with someone else as well.  That sim turned out to be Linda Edwards (the one who lives next door with her adult son Joseph and young {and unexpected} son Michael).  Jobwise, Makoto got a couple of promotions and Andi got some as well but also got fired...twice.  She was able to find Slacker again after her first firing, but no such luck the second time.  That will be a problem for next round, in which Brandon will be moving in and marrying Andi (who is now pregnant with his baby).  Makoto moved out at the end of winter with his and Andi's son Soren, who is a toddler, and $5000; he'll be moving in with Linda.  Btw, Norman and Nikki are still alive and well; they're at the top of their elder jobs and seem to be blissfully in love.  At the end of the round, the family has $7487 and will remain Working Class.

Happy Simming! 

Humble Beginnings 2/22/25

 The Harris/Wong household went through a number of changes this winter.  Near the beginning of the round Kayla got pregnant, eventually delivering another baby boy, Cody.  Ajay became a teen*, rolling the LTW for Music, which will require a community college degree, so he began taking AP classes.  He also began dating Rhea Carter.  Simon did some work on his degree but was more invested in his job and his budding relationship with Michelle Tse.  They fell in love, got married, and pregnant by the end of winter.  Kayla also got pregnant again and little Cody became a toddler.  When Michelle moved in, she brought $8000, and she had a job in Journalism, which she was qualified for.  However, her LTW is for Business, so I awarded her an honorary degree (since Journalism requires a Uni degree) and she switched to Business.  At the end of winter, the family had saved $29,998, which means a promotion to Lower Middle Class.  I considered splitting the family, but it wouldn't be fair to give Simon and Michelle less than $10,000-$12,000, which would mean neither family could level up, so I decided to keep them together for the time being.  It makes sense, given that Kayla raised her brother and they're very close.  It'll be nice for them to raise their children together.  

*I mistakenly wrote in the last update for this family that Ajay had aged up to teen, but he only aged up to child last round.

Happy Simming!

Humble Beginnings 2/21/25

 Adam and Linda Edwards did not have much money left over after purchasing their new home, so they had to be careful with their budget for a while.  Consequently, when Luke left for college, they didn't give him any additional money.  Luckily, he was able to complete five AP classes, so his scholarship money will cover the rest of his tuition.  Alison grew up later in the week, deciding to do her degree from home instead of going to University.  Unfortunately, she had only managed to complete one AP class during her teen years, so the family has had to shell out $1000 per class (she still has one more class to go, plus her thesis).  Abigail became a teen with the LTW to be a Gamer, which will only require a community college degree.  She was not able to do any AP classes, however, because her grades are not high enough.  Linda did finally attain the promotion she was working on, but is short friends for the next one, so she hasn't quite topped Slacker yet.  Adam brought home another big bonus of $20,000 though, so they're doing pretty well financially, despite all the expenses.  At the end of winter, Adam is in his 70s and Linda is nearly 60, and the family has saved $30,761, so they will remain Lower Middle.

*Note: The reason I decided to keep Alison at home is that the first dorm at Uni is full to capacity, which would have meant her going alone into the second one, with no one else likely to join her, which would be boring.  Also, since she was dating Joshua Baxter as a teen, and I plan to rekindle that relationship as soon as he grows up, it makes sense for her to take over the household, as Joshua will have to move out of his house when he ages up.  

Happy Simming!

Humble Beginnings 2/19/25

 Rose and Alvin Parker welcomed another baby girl early in the round.  Rose continued to take vacation time from work in order to build up her businesses.  Rosie's Diner is still not making very much money, but at least it's rank 10 and has a manager now.  (Brandi leveled up her badge and was promoted, however when Alvin aged her up to elder with him, she got kicked out of the manager's position for some reason, and he ended up having to lay her off and re-hire her before re-promoting her to manager.😕)  Rose purchased the lot for her arcade, but did not have the money to build on it until the very end of the round when Alvin brought in a huge bonus of $20,000.  He's also made it to the top of the Slacker career, even though that's not his LTW (it's to have 20 pet bfs, which is so not happening lol).  She'll work on the arcade in spring.  In other news, Josephine reached adulthood and took a job in Athletic (her LTW).  She has a few romantic prospects, but hasn't made a serious move towards anyone in particular yet.  Both Victoria and baby Samantha became children by the end of the round, though Victoria's nearing teen, and the family got a dog as well.  At the end of winter, their savings is $29,339, which keeps them at Lower Middle Class.

Happy Simming!

Humble Beginnings 2/17/25

 Levi and Phoebe Carter continued their rise to success this round.  Levi reached the top of the Culinary career, completing his LTW in the process; Phoebe is a Congressperson, so not much farther to go for her.  The couple welcomed their second child, a boy named Ezra, who became a toddler by the end of winter.  Their daughter Rhea became a teen on the same day, rolling a LTW for Law Enforcement.  I was kind of hopeful that Levi would get abducted, as I don't have any aliens in this neighborhood yet, but sadly it didn't happen, and he's too old now.  Oh well.  In any event, the family has $88,428 now, so it looks good for them to move up next round.

Happy Simming!

Humble Beginnings 2/16/25

 Things are looking up for the Gordon family, despite adding, not one, but TWO new babies to the family.  That's right, they had twin girls, Maria and Miranda.  Scott managed to finish 5/6 AP classes before heading off to Uni with a $1000 scholarship to cover his final class.  They couldn't afford to give him anything extra, but he should be fine if he gets a job.  Zane began dating Meadow Thayer, and when he also grew up near the end of the round, he took her with him to Uni.  She also has a LTW for Education, so they're a pretty good match.  Zane followed in his big brother's footsteps, completing 5 AP classes and earning a $1000 scholarship.  Meadow, being an orphan, has no money and will need to start working immediately to earn money for classes.  Chad grew into a teen and rolled the LTW to be a Gamer like his dad.  Since he'll only need a community college degree for this, he'll likely stay home to study when he grows up.  Sophia became a child, as did the twins by the end of the round.  Eric, who is now an elder, reached the top of his career, thanks to a good chance card.  Amaya will join Eric in elderhood next round, so thankfully there won't be any more kids for the Gordons.  She'll finally have some time to devote to her painting.  By the end of winter, after expenses, the family has $9736 in savings and will remain Working Class.

Happy Simming!

Humble Beginnings 2/13/25

 The Franklins went through some highs and lows this round, but they're on the verge of disaster.  Early on things were going fairly well.  Caleb grew up and finished his community college degree, someone (I think Charlotte?) brought in a big bonus, and Riley married and had a son (Bailey) with Dagmar.  Isaac continued romancing the ladies, one of whom was Melissa Fancey.  Riley, Dagmar, and Caleb all found jobs corresponding to their LTWs (R & D in Athletic, C in Culinary).  That's when things got...complicated.  It should be noted here that everyone in the household except for Charlotte and the baby have primary aspirations of Romance.  Xavier has always been a fairly innocuous Romance sim, so he didn't cause a problem, however the others are on a course of chaos.  It started somewhat innocently, with Dagmar and Caleb rolling wants to be friends and then best friends.  But since they have 2 bolts, I knew that wouldn't be the end of it.  I had Caleb look around for someone else to turn his attention to and all he found was Melissa Fancey, who he also has 2 bolts for.  I'm not too bothered by that, as Isaac isn't really serious about her, and he became an elder this round, so he's not likely to settle down at this point.  Caleb and Melissa had a nice first date (away from the house, as Isaac is in love with her technically, and I didn't' want to start unnecessary drama), but as soon as he returned home, he rolled the want to fall in love with Dagmar.  At about this time, Xavier died unexpectedly at the age of 65 (I thought he had a bit more time).  Since the family is Working Class, they were not able to keep the insurance money unfortunately.  However, at this point they had about $40,000, so I thought they'd be moving up.  By the time Bailey grew into a toddler, Dagmar and Riley were expecting their second child.  It was at this point that Dagmar also rolled the want to fall in love with Caleb, and Charlotte got hit with a bad chance card that cost the family $20,000.  I had been thinking I'd split the family at the end of the round, giving Charlotte, Riley, Dagmar, and Bailey $25,000 and leveling them up to Lower Middle, while keeping bachelors Isaac and Caleb here at Working Class, with over $10,000 in savings.  However, since they didn't end up having enough funds to level up, they'll all be staying here, which is likely to become a war zone next round.  Caleb and Dagmar are a flirt or two away from falling in love and if we add Melissa to the equation, WWIII will erupt.  I have no idea where everyone will end up when the dust settles, but it's going to fracture relationships either way.  Stay tuned.  At the end of winter, the Franklins have $22,204 after expenses and will remain Working Class.

Happy Simming!

Humble Beginnings 2/10/25

 Big changes were in store for Angela Owens and her family this winter.  They moved into their new apartment and Amanda and Vanessa immediately began searching for jobs in Law Enforcement (both their LTWs), which they found fairly early on.  When Jennifer grew up, she also took a job on the police force (her LTW is to Marry Off 6 Children).  Wendy continued in Culinary for most of the week but finally found Slacker towards the end of winter.  By that time, she was pregnant with Andrew Chen's baby - a girl, Robin, who became a toddler by the end of the round.  Jennifer married her high school sweetheart, George McCarthy, as soon as she grew up and they had a baby girl as well, Hannah.  George was working in Athletic until he got fired right at the end of the round; his LTW is for 5 Top Businesses, so we'll try to see what we can do with that.  Wendy seems to have lost all interest in Andrew after giving birth to his child and rolled the want to get engaged to Count BJ Haggerty (right after he spontaneously turned her into a vampire), so she'll be moving in him next round.  I'm not sure how healthy their relationship will be, given she also has the want to woohoo 5 different sims, but we'll see how it goes.  Amanda and Vanessa also started dating.  Amanda fell for Charles Bendett, their former landlord at the motel, which is a little awkward since he and Angela went out a couple times during her escorting days, but they're 3-bolters so I think they'll be okay as long as Angela is kept away from him.  Vanessa is seeing Benjamin Long, who is an elder already, so quite the age difference there.  By the end of winter, decisions had to be made about what to do with this bursting-at-the-seams family.  There was more than enough money for them to be promoted to Lower Middle Class, but I didn't want to keep them all together, as it would impede their relationships, so I decided that George, Jennifer, Angela, and Hannah (and the dog) would move up to Lower Middle, taking the minimum $25,000 with them.  My reasoning was that George wants businesses, which he can't do unless he's LM Class, and Angela is nearing the end of her life and needs to be LM to leave life insurance money to her kids.  I gave Amanda and Vanessa each $5000 to start their lives as Working Class, and Wendy will remain in the current Working-Class apartment, with a remaining savings (after expenses and the purchase of two coffins for her and her husband-to-be) of $1077.

Happy Simming!

Humble Beginnings 2/7/25

 At the end of last round, the Iversons merged with Linda Edwards' household, creating a blended family consisting of Linda, her son Joseph, her daughter Rachel, Joseph's fiancé Destiny (who immediately became his wife), and Destiny's brother Chase.  Shortly after moving into their apartment, Linda gave birth to another son, Michael.  Joseph was working in Criminal, but soon switched to Athletic (his LTW), and was joined by his mother and sister (who aged to adult early in the round), since they both also have the LTW for Athletic.  Chase and Destiny continued working in Slacker, while also pursuing their degrees.  Chase was able to finish his community college degree and find a job in his LTW of Adventurer by the end of winter; Destiny is still working on her degree, as her progress was greatly slowed by becoming pregnant (the baby will be born next round).  I had planned to move Linda's boyfriend (Michael's father) in as soon as Linda aged to elder, but for some reason I was unable to age Alvin up to elder with her - he just didn't appear on the list of potential friends to age up!  I think it may have something to do with him being an AL townie, as I noticed other AL missing from the list as well, even ones that Linda was very friendly with.  So, I made the decision not to move him in, since it would be very weird for Linda's boyfriend to be younger than her kids. We'll just say he had cold feet about being a father and leave it at that, I guess.  Chase began dating Bruce McMillan, and Rachel is crushing on Marie Mazza, so I decided to move them both out (to separate households), giving them each $5000 to start their new families as Working Class.  This family will also remain Working Class (though they nearly got promoted), with a savings of $11,747, after rent/expenses and giving money to Chase and Rachel.

Happy Simming!

Humble Beginnings 2/5/25

 The Baxter/Nanale/Lum family was very successful this winter.  Emily reached the top of the Culinary career and her husband Alvin brought in several promotions as well.  Dylan continued to climb in Entertainment, though his progress did slow a bit due to needing skill points.  Rose finished her degree and eventually found a job in Business (her LTW), scoring a promotion just before the end of the round.  Meanwhile, Josh became a teen, started dating Alison Edwards, and began taking AP classes towards his degree, as he wants to be an Architect.  Logan became a child, and Dylan and Rose had another baby, Sydney, who is now a toddler.  At the end of winter, after expenses, the family has saved $54,025 and will therefore remain Lower Middle for the time being.

Happy Simming!

Humble Beginnings 2/3/25

 The Tang/Welsh household was pretty uneventful this round.  The boys became children, and their mother Michelle was able to teach them to study, which will be helpful to them going forward.  The dogs continued to be menaces, peeing everywhere and destroying everything, despite being scolded over and over.  Other than that, it was mostly just work/school/Michelle skilling.  There were very few promotions, and at the end of winter the family has $38,300, keeping them Lower Middle Class.

Happy Simming!

Humble Beginnings 2/2/25

 The Carter/Cormier family has become the Carter/Ray family, with the departure of Ricky from the household (he and Irene Franklin are now together and expecting a baby) and the addition of Craig Ray, who Daisy met, fell in love with, and married this round.  Lily has not really shown any interest in dating since Ricky left her, so I haven't pushed the issue.  She's doing well in her career, reaching the level of assistant coach, so maybe that's where her focus is at the moment.  Daisy's new hubby Craig has the LTW to reach the top of Criminal, so he's going to be a lifer!  He was able to find a job right away and worked one day, during which he got arrested, but was able to afford a good lawyer, who got him off the hook.  Daisy's LTW is for Culinary, which she didn't find right away, so she started a home business as a stylist.  She wasn't very successful with the business, but did eventually find Culinary, starting as a hostess and being promoted to waitress before the end of winter.  She's also expecting her first child.  Mason grew into a teen with the LTW to raise 20 puppies/kittens.  Since they had two dogs already, I had them breed them, which resulted in two puppies.  I'm not sure I'll go all in on trying to fulfill this LTW, but at least he got a little progress.  He's got a couple of love interests, one he likes better than the other, so we'll see how that develops.  At this point, I'm leaning towards having Daisy and Craig stay here, and moving Mason out eventually, so we'll see how that goes.  For now, the family has $45,636 and will remain Upper Middle Class.

Happy Simming!