Humble Beginnings 11/27/24

 The new family is just a single sim - Eric Gordon.  Eric started out as Poverty Class, living in the motel.  He had a very tough winter; he was unable to get the skills needed to apply for any jobs until close to the end of the week, he was always in a terrible mood which prevented him from even doing much bartending, once he did have the skills he needed the jobs just didn't come up, and the only bright spot was meeting Amaya Louie, who he fell for pretty quickly.  Amaya, quite literally, saved him as he was on the verge of becoming Homeless; she agreed to move in and brought $15,000 with her on the very last day of the round.  She's unemployed, but has a decent skill set so she won't have any trouble finding a job.  They got married right away and with the $14,565 they have remaining after paying the crime syndicate, they will be moving up to Working Class.

Happy Simming!

Humble Beginnings 11/26/24

 The Franklins spent a tough winter on the Homeless lot.  However, with the twins newly grown to adulthood, it meant plenty of sims to beg and/or care for little Alex, who soon became a big brother to Riley, who will soon also become a big brother, as Charlotte is pregnant once more.  Aside from begging, they caught a few boots at the beginning of winter, before the pool froze over, and Xavier tried his hand at growing tomatoes, but they didn't survive the snow and ice.  By the end of the season, the family had saved $505, so will be leveling back up to Poverty in the spring.  (Side note: it seems as though Romance sims make more money when begging.  Xavier and Isaac seemed to get tipped more often and for more money than the others - just an observation.)

Happy Simming!

Humble Beginnings 11/25/24

 The Owens family continues to struggle under the weight of poverty.  Once the baby was born (a girl, Wendy), Angela briefly took a job as a pickpocket, but when she found out she was pregnant yet again, she and Warren decided it was too dangerous, and she gave up her life of crime.  Not being able to contribute was upsetting to her though, so she took up escorting again in secret.  Warren scours the newspaper daily for a position in Slacker (his LTW), but to no avail, so he's still working in Culinary.  He's been promoted (and demoted) several times, ending the winter as a fast-food shift manager.  At the end of winter, Brandon is a teen (with a job as a gas station attendant), Wendy is a child, new baby Amanda is still an infant, and there's another baby on the way.  Brandon does not get along with his parents at all, so it's unlikely he'll want to stay and help out once he grows up; he'll want to get out as soon as he can, which means they may be stuck in this class for a while longer.  Current savings, after rent, bills, and the crime payment, are $1583.

Happy Simming!

Humble Beginnings 11/24/24

 The Edwards family faced many challenges and changes this winter.  Alice got a job as a golf caddy right away, but her sons were not so lucky.  Adam wasted no time in proposing to his waitress girlfriend (Linda Cho) and they were married with a baby on the way in short order.  Paul, not to be outdone by his brother, decided to give up escorting to marry one of his clients, Linda Barthelet.  (Yes, we now have two Linda Edwards.)  In addition, he finally found a job working for the syndicate as a pickpocket; his new bride had a job as a fast-food worker.  Adam and his Linda remained unemployed but took barista and bartending gigs whenever possible.  In due time, baby Amy was born and, shortly thereafter, three things occurred: 1. Paul's Linda discovered she was pregnant, 2. Alice died at age 73, and 3. Paul was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to jail time, despite having spent his wife's life savings on an attorney.  Now, my original plan, since both Lindas brought in $5000, was to level everyone up, but have the brothers each take half the money and go their separate ways, moving into their own individual Working Class apartments.  However, since they spent $5K on Paul's legal fees, there wasn't enough for them each to have the minimum requirement for Working, which would mean them all moving into an apartment together.  This did not seem reasonable to me because the brothers dislike each other and, without their mother's presence to keep the peace, would likely not want to do that.  So, I decided that Adam will take his wife's savings and level up his family, while leaving Paul's wife at the motel to await his return from prison.  Therefore, Adam, Linda, and Amy are now Working Class, with $5000, and Paul, Linda, and the twins (James and Joseph) Linda delivered, will remain Poverty Class with $1684 in savings after paying the rent.  Paul's family might level up next round, and it might not work out so well for Adam's family, given that neither he, nor his wife, are employed, but I guess that's what we'll find out lol!

Happy Simming!

Humble Beginnings 11/22/24

 Dalton Duncan decided to switch jobs to Culinary, even though it meant taking a pay cut.  He's done very well so far, so maybe the sacrifice was worth it.  Emily continues to work in Culinary as well; she's a bit ahead of Dalton due to her head start.  Unluckily though, it seems as though their schedules always seem to line up, meaning that they have to spend quite a bit of money on nannies to care for their son Dylan.  It's taking a real toll on their bank account.  Thankfully, Dylan will become a teen in the spring, and there's been no sign of another baby on the horizon, so they may have a chance to get ahead finally.  Their savings as of the end of winter is $6710.

Happy Simming!

Humble Beginnings 11/20/24

 The Baxter/Tang family has gone through even more changes this winter.  Robi decided to change jobs and began working in the Athletic career.  Karen and Steven continued in Culinary, while Andrea continued with Slacker (though she's had very little success with promotions).  Rose took a job as a security guard but also bought a small community lot and started a business, Rosie's Diner, on it.  Steven passed away at age 63, leaving the family a tidy sum in life insurance money.  Andrea began making flower bouquets for extra cash and she and Robi also welcomed another baby girl, Nicole.  Rose began dating Alvin Parker and decided to ask him to move in (he brought $14,000); he subsequently proposed to her, and she said yes.  They are now expecting their first child as well.  Alvin took a job in the Military, but was fired on the first day, so he ended up working in Slacker instead.  He has also taken on the primary responsibility of running the diner since Rose is pregnant.  By the end of the round, the house was getting pretty crowded, so I decided to move Rose and Alvin into their own place.  Since Rose has a business, however, which she can only keep if she remains Lower Middle Class, I had her take $25,000 with her, which leaves the family with $10,732 after paying their property taxes and bills.  Normally, I would've been okay with giving her less money and allowing her to level down a class, but I felt the circumstances warranted giving her more, and Alvin did bring in $14,000, so it made sense to me.  Had the family been close to leveling up to Upper Middle Class, it might have been different, but they're nowhere near the $100,000 they need for that so...

Happy Simming!

Humble Beginnings 11/18/24

 The Andrews/Carter clan settled into their new home in the Working Class row houses I built, minus Travis who, sadly, died in prison at age 68.  The twins got jobs to help with the family's finances, and Clay and Paige continued working in Culinary (both were promoted up to host/hostess by the end of the round).  Levi began dating a girl named Lucy Do and Lily fell for Ricky Cormier.  Paige got pregnant and subsequently delivered another boy, Ethan, shortly before Ryan grew into a teen.  When the twins reached adulthood, I allowed them to take their romantic interests to Uni with them to grow them up, before moving them back home.  (I left Lucy and Ricky on the Uni lot to potentially be moved in later.)  Levi earned a $1000 scholarship for good grades, but he likely will not be using it, as his Lifetime Want is for Culinary, and he doesn't need a degree for that.  Upon returning home, he immediately found a position as a dishwasher.  Lily's LTW is for Athletic, which is allowed for Working Class, so she took a job as a team mascot.  (Btw, they both met the skill requirements for these jobs.)  Ryan also took a teen job in the Athletic career (I'm not requiring any skills for teen jobs) and his LTW is for Law, which is a bit trickier, as he'll need a University degree to work in that job.  I am going to try to send him if the family can swing the initial $1000 for his first class; he'll likely have to work his way through college on his own after that.  At the end of winter, after paying the crime syndicate and the rent/bills, the family only had enough money to give each of the twins $1000 upon moving out, which would automatically demote them to Poverty.  I decided that, since Levi wants Culinary anyway, which is allowed in Poverty, while Lily's Athletic job is not, I would have him move out with his $1000 but keep Lily in the current household.  Levi will become Poverty and move Lucy in with him (they got engaged btw) and Lily will move Ricky in here and take over the household once her parents are gone (they'll both become elders next round).  As of the end of winter, they have $1077 and will remain Working Class.

Happy Simming!