@socks2015
Yeah, when you play rotationally, households don't earn money when you're not actively playing them. That's just the way it is. They don't earn royalties, either, but they also have no bills.
If you're not averse to cheating and you want to pretend they're earning money when you're not playing them, you could figure out how much they earn in a week and then cheat that amount onto them when you return. Just make a note at the start of the week (I play week rotations) and the end of the week, and then when you pop in a week later add that amount to their household, for example.
If you ARE averse to cheating, or are on console where that's penalized by denying you trophies, I would suggest getting into side activities like gardening. If you have City Living, ALWAYS go to the Romance Festival and steal the plants to plant at home. This will give you a nice daily bonus of cash.
Making money is honestly one of the easiest things to do in the Sims and there are lots of other ways you can do it. Common go-tos include painting, licensing music, flower arranging (ties in well with gardening flowers), etc. Some of the odd jobs in Island Living are pretty lucrative, too.
