I hate that it's too easy to earn and too hard to spend money in the Sims 4 SO this is what I do about that
I think this is a thing that a lot of players struggle with, so I'd really love to know how you handle it, but it's insanely easy to never have to worry about money again in this game. And that bothers me.
You can spend it (duh, but it's way harder than it sounds)
I adjust prices higher on CC almost all of the time. Particularly, I download a lot of art and I always mark the prices higher than the catalog in @sims4studioofficial program. My houses usually end up being entirely CC, not because it's better assets (it is though), but because I can make it the most expensive stuff very easily.
Sometimes my sims have two children for the sole purpose of moving one out and splitting the household funds in half super quickly, while still being explainable.
I use Get to Work in every game, every day. Running stores is stupid and boring, but building stores and shopping at them is easy and fun. All my sims start with one outfit in each category, and if I want to change them I either have to make a new outfit from the separates they already have across all outfits, or go to a store and have my sim buy one that I've picked out and put on a mannequin.
When I want more of a challenge I don't use the catalog for anything after the starter money. It's all bought at Get to Work retail lots. I don't always put the effort into the store, like sometimes it's just a room that has an oven to buy, but my sims go to the store so everything can be marked up and cost more.
Get to Work is also great for making vacation homes. Obviously this is a well-known thing, and @littlemssam has a mod for it https://littlemssam.tumblr.com/post/189144293148/holiday-home-standalone-version-get-to-work-this . Personally I just keep it as a retail lot that I never open.
Philanthropy is always great, even for Sims I guess. I have the More Donate mod https://deichschafblog.de/bienchen/sonstige-mods-misc-mods/ and sometimes I do that just to rid of some simoleons and it just sort of disappears into the ether and you don't get to see any impact of the donation but at least I'm not just burning it.
TANGENT: It is actually very frustrating that Sims can literally throw away money. There are those "make it rain" animations that cost money and all they do is throw it around. Or burn it. You can burn money in the vanilla game but I have to go through all of this and use the work of so many independent, mostly volunteer creators, to spend it. Like actually I hate that so much.
Anyway, philanthropy is always great. I will often renovate a community lot like the University dorms or a library, museum, park, etc, and then rename it for my sims and cheat off the amount of simoleons put into the renovation (plus more for an "endowment" because my sims still have too much money).
Entrance Fee on Community Lot https://littlemssam.tumblr.com/post/175406538553/entrance-fee-on-community-lots-custom-lot-trait. @littlemssam is just fantastic. She makes this game playable. Just trying to spend money. In reality, things like going to museums and pools cost money. So this helps.
University Costs More https://www.patreon.com/posts/university-costs-31623191. Self explanatory. The EA pricing system was a joke. Thank you @demonetascabile.
Fixed bills after Eco Lifestyle: https://modthesims.info/d/644751/fix-capped-lot-taxes-bills-eco-lifestyle-patch.html . For some reason all lots were only $300 in taxes following Eco Lifestyle, so this makes it go back to being semi-based on lot value. Helpful.
I also have Complete Cooking Overhaul from @srslysimshttps://www.srslysims.net/2019/03/srslys-complete-cooking-overhaul.html and my sims go grocery shopping and have to have all ingredients to cook. This one has an optional add-on that makes produce less expensive, which isn't great for trying to spend money, but it actually serves to make gardening earn way less money. Gardening is super OP don't @ me. Plus it adds other ingredients likes eggs and rice that you "have to" purchase to cook with. It's fine.
Noextramoneyonpromotion by bienchen makes it so you don´t get extra money when promoted. https://deichschafblog.de/bienchen/sonstige-mods-misc-mods/. Sometimes you need bonuses, sometimes an extra 2500 simoleons is unwelcome.
Despite all of this, my sims still have too much money. And like it's fun to renovate libraries and build museums and retail stores, so ultimately it's fine. It just sucks to lay out all of the work that has been done by mod creators and players to address how imbalanced and frustrating the game is.
Also, if you haven’t already sign the petition for more inclusive skin tones https://www.change.org/p/ea-games-a-color-wheel-for-the-sims-4 I don’t know if this is a request for everything to have a color wheel or just skin tones, but this is definitely the most widely circulated petition I’ve seen about Maxis skin tones. TBH I don’t think everything needs a color wheel but I do think skin tones could benefit from one. Generally, Maxis needs significantly more inclusive skin tones, hair styles, and CAS items.
also I posted this on reddit first because I lowkey forgot I had a tumblr with zero followers specifically about the sims.