Bills and making money as an archaeologist

[Ynde]

So carrying around artifacts in your inventory gets expensive very quickly once the bills roll in, or at least that's what I assume caused my sim's bills to skyrocket. Fortunately, once she got back from her vacation, she's also able to bring in 4000+ per day just by authenticating the artifacts sent to her in the mail. I don't know if these two things are meant to balance one another; I've sold the majority of my collection at this point and am just wallowing in filthy lucre.

The frugal trait only "reduces" bills. I remember when World Adventures came out in the sims 3, they added a "no bills ever" reward, and if you wanted to keep a large collection of relics and such you really needed that. How are people's bills looking, and what are you keeping? Has anyone kept complete artifact collections, and if so, what are your bills like?

[reggikko]

Your bills were probably inflated because you were on vacation when they came. That's been an ongoing issue since Outdoor retreat. The game mistakenly calculates the bills based on the vacation lot your Sim happens to be on at the time instead of the home lot.

[Ynde]

Possibly? I know about the problem from Outdoor Retreat, since that can cause a ridiculous jump. These seemed more reasonable, though, and have stayed up a fair ways since I returned home, even though I've only kept a few of the artifacts.

[Playalot]

I've had the bill glitch where I had to pay it on Sunday at my jungle vacation home and then again on Monday when he traveled home but despite that they were relatively normal and he had literally 10's of thousands worth of artifacts. Could have just been glitchy for you too. But yes, making money from authenticating artifacts through the mail is very lucrative.

[Franki]

My sims bills are usually around 11k simoleons (it's intentionally high), after coming back from holidays with lots of artefacts, the family's bills dropped slightly to just under 11k, but the second set of bills were back to normal.. I don't know if the drop was due to the aritfacts or anything like that, but that has been my experience so far.

[Franki]

I should mention, depending on how quickly you identify an object and if it's common or rare, you can earn anywhere between 800 and 3.5k simoleons, also I've found time of day can have a small part to play in what you earn, my sims earned more at night versus during the day.. it could just be my game being unusual but maybe it does have relevance. 

[Playalot]

@Franki  it may just be your game being weird as so far all my relic prices have remained stable. For example an excellent golden calendar plate is always worth the same regardless where or when I authenticate it.

You can see just which items are going to pay out as when you mouse over them (before being authenticated) you can see their quality. You might need to place item on ground for this. I send anything that is not Excellent away for authentication now that my sim has maxed archaeology as his time is better spent authenticating the excellent ones which are worth thousands.

[Kitty-Kitilark]

I just noticed that after reaching level 10 and Authenticating an artifact for a museum, My Sim received the Supreme Freelancer Award, yet I have not joined the Freelance Career, nor can I figure out how to do so as an Archaeologist.   Any guesses as to what is going on?

[Brian_Z]

I just noticed that after reaching level 10 and Authenticating an artifact for a museum, My Sim received the Supreme Freelancer Award, yet I have not joined the Freelance Career, nor can I figure out how to do so as an Archaeologist.   Any guesses as to what is going on?

I have received that from... I have no idea what.  It just turns up in my household inventory.  Usually right after moving into a new place I think, though I've never thought to watch for it.  Just one day I'm seeing what all is in my household inventory, and there it is.

Also, the increased bills people have seen after an adventure-- Near as I can tell, your personal inventory adds to the value of your lot.  So if you've got some of those really valuable treasures you find, like the golden plates and frogs, that's where the increased bills are coming from.