Off the grid and Country living

OTG doesn't remove lot taxes, it only means you get no power or water bills, and you get a discount on lot taxes.

A good advice would be to upgrade your appliances to energy-efficient devices (can be done on most electronics if you have Eco Lifestyle pack), and having the Geothermal lot trait (no idea from which pack) will give you a nice supply of energy - it may be well enough unless you have a bunch of slaves in the basement that are on computer most of the day writing books or something.

My next bill just went up just to under 800 simoleons, which is nearly double what my last bill was. Aside from having a few more animals and produce in my inventory, nothing has changed on my lot. Something seems off. The last time I played off the grid was in Sulani, but that may have been before the change to the billing system and I didn't pay anything then. Unless the amount gets too ridiculous, I think I'll stick with it and see what happens. I'll think of it as taxes rather than utilities. If it gets out of control, I'll just cheat some money back to my sims.

"mikamakimon;c-17943898" wrote:
My next bill just went up just to under 800 simoleons, which is nearly double what my last bill was. Aside from having a few more animals and produce in my inventory, nothing has changed on my lot. Something seems off. The last time I played off the grid was in Sulani, but that may have been before the change to the billing system and I didn't pay anything then. Unless the amount gets too ridiculous, I think I'll stick with it and see what happens. I'll think of it as taxes rather than utilities. If it gets out of control, I'll just cheat some money back to my sims.

Actually produce can hugely impact your sim's bills. If you have a quantity of vegetables, even if individually they are cheap and not good quality, I think the game counts the whole amount as part of your sim's wealth. When I've played with gardens I always made my sim sell most vegetables and fruits right away, which can be quite lucrative as well. Now if you're playing the Simple Living Lot Challenge you will have to keep a few for ingredients, probably. But the point is produce, and anything n your inventory, can directly impact your bills if you are not careful (so can minerals and elements as well).

Thanks for tip! I was hoarding some of the produce as it was nearing the end of spring in my game, and I was still trying to decide how much of the spring produce to keep. I just sold a whole bunch to the grocer, so hopefully that helped in lowering the bill.

Also a way to obtain a surplus is to select the solar roof tiles swatch, it doesnt cost anything. EL pack if you have it.