PAYING
BILLS
When a Household first moves into a new home, you will have to set up any Home Services (Electricity, Water, Trash, Cable, Cellphone and Internet) that you want your Sim to have. This will be the same issue of Households that were previously using SNB - Bills. Our Custom Services (sometimes all Services) will reset to accommodate this change (we will even have a small pop up to warn you again once you get the game/save loaded).
You can set up your Sim's services in EA's Show Bill Information option in the Cellphone Household menu or the mailbox. From there, click "Home Services" to click a pre-made Welcome Home package or customize what services you want your Sim to have.
Miscellaneous Bills
0.3 brought a generic category that allows flexibility to how each Simmer plays their game. If the Household has a lot trait, Reward trait, or you have a mod installed that discounts billing, the Miscellaneous Bills Category will reflect this adjustment. Like for instance, if you have a lot trait that reduces your Sim's Power or Water bill, it will be a negative adjustment to the bill bringing down the total cost of the bill. This mod use to allow MCCC Bill Adjustments with this category as well, but this has been removed.
Paying Utility Bills
When a Bills is due, you will get a notification that allows you to open the Bills App without having to go to the Cellphone Household menu. Within the Bills Main Menu, click “Pay Utility Bills” to pay for your Sim's Services. You should see a breakdown screen that allows you to pay each type separately or all together. It also shows which bill is costing your Sim more.
Paying Property Taxes/Rent
If there is a Property Tax bill due, the option to Pay Property Taxes will be available. When not due, you get an estimated cost of what your bill will be after a Sim “Year” or 4 weeks has passed. This cost should steadily rise until it gets to 15% or (the Custom % set by the Simmer within Bills Settings) of the Lot value. Once your Property Tax comes due, you have up to 4 Sim Weeks to pay it before your Sim’s name hits the Newspapers and the shame and loss of reputation will be so much so that they could DIE.
When your Sim lives in an Apartment, they will pay Rent instead of Property Taxes. This bill will occur weekly like normal. If another week passes by with non-payment, your Sim will experience the same consequence of not paying their taxes, DEATH.
Government Bills
CHILD SUPPORT
Child Support is calculated with a fixed price of §550 + 5% of the non-Custodial Parent's Household and SNB Accounts + 25% of any Career Pay. This set up makes sure that the paying parent isn't skimping out on sending support in any shape or form. All of these defaulted values are customizable in the Bills Settings except for the Household Wealth.
When a Bill is due, it will breakdown how much is paid for each child so that you can pay for each individually or altogether if there are more than one. Your Sim is required to pay Child Support first before paying for their household services. If you can't pay your Sim's Child Support, you can always a request to Stop to payments if they qualify. If not, they will become past due on their home services, and the resulting interest, service cut-off, and potential death can occur as normal.
If you set your Bills to Autopay, Child Support payments will automatically payout like your Sim's other bills.
ALIMONY
Similarly to Child Support, Alimony is calculated with a fixed price of §1,200 + 5% of the Paying Sim's Household Wealth + 25% of the Paying Sim's Career Pay. Again, this setup makes sure the Paying Sim isn't hoarding money. The whole point of this option during a Divorce settlement is to make sure the Sim, who's financial situation has drastically changed, is taken care of until they can get a job or make a change that fits their new reality.
When this bill becomes due, you have to pay this bill before attempting to pay your Sim's other Household Services. You could potentially have multiple Alimony payments at once as well, but normally you would just have the one ex-Spouse to pay to since payments stop when they re-marry or after 4 weeks of payments.
If you set your Bills to Autopay, Alimony payments will automatically payout like your Sim's other bills.
SNB Account Integration
With the 0.3 update, Sims can now pay all their Bills with their SNB Main Account by User Selection or Autopay. To enable, just click this option and it will then show "Pay Bills with Household Account."