Re: free build

@mistelluh From what I understand Free Build is to allow you to build on any lot - even one that's normally locked in build mode. Please see the Carl's Guide below that lists cheats. The only one that I saw that may be what you're describing is called household.autopay_bills true/false .Did you enable that cheat?
https://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/cheats.php

Do you have any Mods/CC? Do any of your mods have settings for money? You could check those. It's possible a Mod/CC(s) is broken after the recent patch. You could also test without the Mods/CC then delete the localthumbcache.package file in your 'The Sims 4' folder and see if the issue remains.

You can run a game repair [ Open Origin, click 'Game Library' then right-click Sims 4 > Repair Game ]. Make sure to let it run until it has completed all repairs (it will do the base-game first, then run through each of your expansions/packs).

Please let us know if any of these things helped. If not we can try other things.