May 2018:
Zared Smith is 35, Carol is 32, Adam and Ethan are 7, and Isabella is 4
(Dee Smith is 5, Lily Gates-Watson is 7, Marcus Craig is 35)
The warm late spring days mean that the Smith family spends all the time that they aren’t at school or work outside enjoying the sunshine. The kids love to fly their kites in the open space between their house and the Menons next door.
And the whole family often sits down together for hot dogs or hamburgers fresh off the grill.
Carol has been thinking about a family vacation lately. They’ve never taken one together and it would be nice to take the kids off to try new things. Like skiing up at Three Lakes, maybe.
But it’s just an idea, and unfortunately, their current financial situation doesn’t allow skiing trips or other vacations. Since Zared left The Willow, money has been even tighter as he tries to find a solid footing in the culinary world. He’s sent proposals to a couple of local stations about a cooking show, but so far there has been no response.
So instead, Carol takes the kids to the park on weekends. They bring their cousin Dee and their friend Lily with them too. Carol thinks Lily sometimes gets a bit intimidated by seeing her music teacher outside of school, but Carol tries to make Lily feel more relaxed and tell her that she doesn’t have to think of her as a teacher on the weekends.
Sometimes, a few local teens are already at the park when they get there, hogging up the playground equipment so that the kids can’t play.
But just when Carol thinks she may have to say something to the teens, they finally do let the kids get on.
Still, Carol keeps a close eye on all of them to make sure the teens aren’t too rough on the equipment with the little kids.
Trips to the park always wear Ethan, Adam, and Isabella out, and they head to bed as soon as they eat dinner.
Of course, an early bedtime means the kids are usually up very early. Often before the sun even comes up. Half-asleep still, Carol can hear them playing and laughing in their room.
Having the kids awake early one morning was a lifesaver though. A bad storm passed through the area while Zared and Carol were still asleep, and it was the kids that noticed the fire the lightning had started outside.
They woke their parents and Zared was able to call the fire department before the fire spread to the house. Their furniture outside was burned to a crisp, but the house was untouched except for some smoke damage on the vinyl siding.
Insurance helped pay for some of the repairs, but that is just one of the little repairs that need to be made around the house constantly these days. It seems as if something is always broken or leaking.
“We need to remodel the house,” Carol says with a sigh. “All three kids can’t keep sharing the same bedroom forever.”
“I know,” Zared tells her. “But we don’t have the money right now.”
“I know,” Carol says. She does know just how little extra money they have at the moment. She would love to get her masters degree, but that’s out of the question right now. They haven’t even started a college fund for the kids yet because all the money they have goes toward bills.
But Zared has an idea that he hopes might bring in some extra cash. He has an appointment with his friend Marcus at The Times & Cafe. He grabs a cup of coffee while he waits for Marcus to finish up at the coffeestand.
“I don’t know, Zared,” Marcus says after Zared tells him about his plan. “I don’t really have the money to hire you on as a real staff member.”
Zared’s shoulders slump a bit. “Oh. Okay, I understand.”
Marcus feels bad when he sees the disappointed look on his friend’s face. “Okay, how about this? You write a couple articles for this food column and we’ll see how it goes. If there’s a good reaction from readers, we’ll keep publishing more. And I’ll pay you per article instead of a steady salary.”
Zared’s face lights up as he beams at Marcus. “That would be great! Thank you so much.”
Marcus smiles. “No problem. Just have your first column to me by Monday, okay?”
“I’m going home to write it right now,” Zared says.
The column might not pay much, but any extra money would be very welcome at this point. Now, Zared just has to decide what to write his first article about that will win over readers!
————————————————
Unless they suddenly come into a lot of money within the next few years, Carol probably won’t get her masters degree, which means she won’t be allowed to advance very far in her career. They have a loan on the house to pay off, plus they need to expand and add another bedroom and bathroom, and they REALLY need to start saving some money for college for the kids, so all of that would take priority over Carol’s masters degree. I think they’re a pretty typical middle class family, they’re surviving on their incomes, but there just isn’t a lot left over after bills, food, and taxes.
Everyone has Monique’s computer in their home and they can write articles at any time to earn some extra money, but I have a rule that if they want to write articles, they have to have a real reason for writing them and they have to talk to the person currently in charge of the newspaper (which is Marcus for now). Zared has a valid reason–a food column–and no one else is currently writing one, so he’s now allowed to write an article or two each play period for some extra money.
Titles comes from “Patience” by Guns N’ Roses
They really are a typical middle class family. I was hoping at the end money would fall out the sky for them or something. It is nice to know that Marcus is at least going to give him a shot and pay him on a article by article basis.
It would be nice if money would fall out of the sky for them! 😉 But unfortunately, I make my Sims earn their money the hard way, lol.
Aww, it’s so great to have such a typical middle class family. My sims are either too rich or too poor, I have very few in the middle…yet. Thanks to the up and coming graduates, I hope to have a bit more.
~Apple Valley
Most of my Sims seem to be in the middle class area, where they have enough to pay their bills, but they just don’t have much leftover to do other things. I like that they have to save up to go on trips or remodel their homes. 🙂
That’s a good idea about the articles. Once I actually have a journalism lot, I might work that in! In the back of my head, Abigail runs the newspaper (she’s the highest in that career) but she doesn’t have anywhere to work.
I hope things get a little easier for this family financially but it’s good to have families who can’t do everything they want to do right away. They’ll appreciate it all the more when they achieve their goals. 😉
Zared is so cute in the picture where he’s thanking Marcus! He’s such a hard worker and so eager. I think that’s part of the reason I’m pulling for this family to get a little break.
The newspaper office is one career building I’ve had since the beginning of the hood just because I made the upstairs level of the coffeeshop the newspaper office, lol. 🙂 But I need to add another room for the printing presses! Right now, it just has the office area with the desks and computers. And it need cubicles and clutter. The newspaper office I work in is full of messy cubicles! 😉
Zared always looks so eager about everything he does, doesn’t he? He’s one of my few Sims who will autonomously primp with the hand mirror and I always think he looks so cute doing it, lol.
Aww… it’s gotta be hard having all these “to do”s on the list and unable to afford it. I know we want all of our sims to be happy, but I think they may be able to find that happiness despite the money shortage.
It’s hard not to just go ahead and give them the money to remodel the house! But you’re right, they’ll be happy even though they don’t have tons of money in the bank. 🙂
The kids are so sweet all tucked in to their beds, then again wide awake before roosters are even up! Glad there home wasn’t damaged by the fire.
I think of them like a typical middle class family too, big hopes/dreams for the future, and vacations, but not really advancing towards that, cause life is messy, and there are priorities. Like Carol not getting her masters. I don’t let anyone write articles ether, too easy to get money that way, and not anyone can just write an article and get paid. I like that you had him go to Marcus, and I’m glad that he’ll have the ability to write a food column now.
Those three kids are a handful! It seems like whenever one decides to wake up early, the others have to get up and play too. 😉
I love that idea for writing columns! I’m glad Zared is getting a shot, it’s so sweet that he’s doing all he can to help his family out. They are such a sweet family, you just can’t help pulling for them :).
They are a really sweet family. 🙂 I feel bad that they can’t do everything they want to do right away, but hopefully one day all their dreams will come true!
I like the idea about the articles, and I love the idea of writing a column.
They really look like a typical middle class family. I’m hoping they find some way to make a little bit more, and do the things that really need to be done.
Glad you like it! 🙂 I hope maybe soon Zared will have success in his new career and make enough money that they can afford to do everything they want to do.
It sounds like a lot on their plate. I hope Zared can catch a break soon so that the family can start feeling some relief.
I hope so too! It would be nice if they could go on a family vacation before the kids are all grown.
It’s really hard putting limits on them like that, but it makes it more rewarding when they finally do get the chance to afford things like higher degrees. I really enjoy playing the struggling families, and proportionally, I really don’t have as many as I should.
Those kids are so cute! I just love all of the pictures of them playing in the yard and on the playground. I’m glad Zared found a way to bring in some extra money.