I've noticed my Sims seem to earn a lot more money when gardening than they do at their day jobs. After crunching the numbers, I found out this wasn't just an illusion - depending on the crop of choice, a Sim can earn money two to three times faster with gardening than they can at an entry-level day job with roughly the same amount of player effort. If the player has time to devote to constantly refreshing crops that have shorter growing cycles, much higher rates are easily possible!

Of course, the Sims do advance in their careers and so can earn more money with their day jobs. But, by the time that's achieved, the player can just as quickly have reached a level where even higher-yield low-effort crops are available.

So, where's the real incentive for the Sims to get a job? Is it just a matter of player preference and role-play, or are there other benefits in the game's mechanics that I'm just not seeing yet?