Self sacrificeing Sim Challenge!
Reading about the ”mistress challenge” posted here recently it reminded me of a favorite challenge of my own that I like to play when I feel like a hard challenge. I have all EPs, but I think most of it will work fine without any but nightlife. (I think that’s the one where you get the ability to go on dates.)

Did you know that all sims are not selfish jerks whose main reason to befriend their fellow sims is just to raise the level of their social meter or to reach the requirements for a promotion? Some sims actually enjoy to spend time with others. But every now and then there’s a sim whose love for others becomes an obsession. This challenges protagonist is one of those and is NOT a healthy sim…
As the desire to please became an obsession, this sim gave up its job, just to have more time to spend with friends. The lost income in itself is not the end of the world, after all a sim can live quite some time on just about nothing at all. But to add to the problem the sim is also a shopaholic. It’s probably just because he/she knows full well that the current lifestyle is unhealthy and the shopping is a way and self comforting and the obsessive socializing is a way to feel needed. When the challenge begins things have just started to spiral out of controll…

Now, this is how you play it:
Start by make 1 adult sim. You can chose any gender, look, personality, aspiration etc. But I highly recommend choosing Social or Romance aspiration. This challenge will be hard enough as it is. But you may choose any other if you prefer.
Move your sim into an empty lot and build a small house that covers only 8X8 squares. You may place the interior walls any way you like. You may use any wallpapers, floors, windows etc. you like, but keep in mind that a more expensive house will generate higher bills. The lot itself may also be any size and the furniture you buy may be of any value. But again, higher value will mean higher bills.

Now furnish your house with one of each of the following things:

refrigerator
counter
stove
double bed
telephone
fire alarm or sprinkler
burglar alarm
lamp (per room)
toilet
shower
sink
mirror
wardrobe

When you are done with the house, use the cheat of your choice to remove all remaining money.

Now here is the tricky part. Your ways of earning money is extremely limited. You are never allowed to sell anything with only two exceptions. One: Gifts received after dates and outings (roses etc.). Two: Things given to you by other sims “networking” you. In both cases you must decide right away if you want to keep the object or sell it. If you keep it you may NOT sell it later.

To make matters worse this sim has a problem with keeping the money.
Every time you sell something, however small, you must also buy something new. Everytime you finish a scored outing you must also sell something, even if you did not receive a gift. This quickly results in a house that is cluttered up with small, cheep, decorative items and the like and it makes the job to pay the bills extremely hard sometimes. You may buy anything you like, as long as you can afford it. However, you may only buy one thing at a time, even if you can afford more. Consider investing in shelves (if available to you) early on to keep the floors clear of stuff.

Some more rules (some regarding EP functions):
You may not write novels, sell paintings or any other crafted object. If you need to get them out of the way just put them to use or put them in the sims inventory (you can always give them away as gifts for other sims if you want rid of them).
You may fish and dig for treasures all you like, but you may not sell what you get. You may cook a fish every now and then, but don’t make it you primary food source if you can avoid it.
You may grow food, but you may not sell what you grow. After harvest you can either put the produce in the fridge or in a juicer.
You may not add another sim to your household in any way, but you may have as many pets as you like. The pets, however, may not have jobs. You may never sell a pet, if you want to get rid of it, just give it up for adoption.
You may use pretty much any cheats, mods and downloads you like, as long as they don’t directly break the rules. Use your judgment.
You may only earn money in ways described above. You may not use rewards such as the money tree or use the computer to give financial consulting or anything like that. You may only earn money by selling things given to you by other sims.

Victory conditions:
Play the household until the sim grows up to an elder. In that time you are only allowed to have one single visit from the repoman. If you do this, then congratulations! You won the challenge.
A second visit and you fail.

I don’t normally keep scores, but if you like to do it, this is a suggested list of points:
1p for every great date and outing
1p for every cat or dog that stays with you till they die from old age
1p for every skill you max
1p for every learned ability (“couples counseling” “lifelong happiness” etc.)
1p for every friend you have when you age
1 additional point for every BFF you have
-2p for every enemy you have
-5p for first visit by repoman
-1p for every time a pet runs away

This is one of my favorite challenges and I have tried it with a number of different strategies. Either make a really cheap house to keep bills low in the beginning and raise the sims living standard later on, or start out with a more comfortable home and work really hard to pay the bills. Either go on lots of dates because they are relatively easy to get right and always give you something to sell, or go on outings and hope for more expensive, but more rare gifts. Any way it’s done, this is a tough one. This is a challenge where every single simolean truly counts. So best of luck to you all!
If you have any questions, suggestions or tips, feel free to ask.
/Zaegen

OMG are you sawing the ONLY income is from gifts? And then ya have to buy something cheap? Would think your Sim would starve (and never have $ for bills)! And before gardening & fishing produced enough to eat, you have to spend many starving days practicing... Let me know; I'll try it.

Well... You get a head start on the food situation, since the fridge i full when you buy it. And when a sim is on a sucsessful date all motives goes up a bit. So it will take you quite some time before food runs out completly.

But yes, you have to plan ahead so that the day food does run out, you'll have enough money to buy more.