Earning and spending money

[Mike]

Earning and spending money

Introduction
Cash is king in San Andreas. You need cash to buy food, weapons, vehicles, properties and more.

Starting out
When playing for the first time, you can start with up to $2100.

• $500 starting cash
• $1,000 for viewing the full introduction tutorial
• $1,000 for registering
• $1,000 audio plugin daily bonus (www.mikescnr.com/audio)

You will soon spend this cash however, and be thinking about how to earn more. A good place to start is by completing missions and side-jobs. These are not restricted by player level so can be a good way to gain income at the start. For more information on missions please see this guide. You might also look at selling vehicles at the scrapyard, getting a job (e.g. a mechanic) or rob your way to wealth.

Robbery
Robbery is 50% of what Cops and Robbers is about, and there's plenty of cash to be made this way.

• Rob players You can rob other players by pressing Y while looking at them and selecting 'Rob' from the player interaction menu.
• Rob stores: You can rob any store by aiming a gun at the cashier.
• Rob banks: You can rob a bank like a store by aiming at the bank tellers or head down into the vault for a bigger take.
• Steal and sell vehicles: Most vehicles you find on the streets can be scrapped or exported for cash. You will be notified if this is the case. See /scrap and /export for more information.
• Phone missions: Select 'Request job' at any payphone to call 'the contact' and they will assign you a mission such as stealing a car or taking out a target.

Legitimate income
If robbery is just too immoral for you, there are plenty of legitimate risk-free ways of earning some cash.

• Get a job: Getting a job is one of the best ways to earn money. See this guide for more information.
• Missions: There are various different missions which can be completed for cash, such as street sweeper and crop dusting. See this this guide for more information.
• Collectables: There are over 250 hidden collectables all over San Andreas. See /hp (hidden packages) in-game for more information and to purchase hints.
• Achievements: Check out /achievements in-game for a list of achievements to be completed for cash and score.

Banking
Holding lots of cash on your person makes you more vulnerable to being robbed. Bank your cash at any bank to secure it and keep it safe from robbers.

• ATMs
  ATMs can be found all over San Andreas and provide accessibility to your bank account. You must first set up a 4-digit security PIN at a bank branch. Bear in mind that banks are closed at night so ATMs will need to be used.

Interest, tax and welfare

• Bank interest
  Once you have some money in your bank account, you will start to accrue interest on it. Interest is paid once a week (148 minutes) and is currently 0.25%.
• Wealth tax
  Once you have a high amount of cash in your bank account, you will start to be charged wealth tax. Wealth tax is currently set at 0.5% and is taken every game week (148 minutes).
• Welfare
  If you have less than $1000 in both on-hand cash and banked cash, you will receive welfare every game week (148 minutes). Welfare is currently $500 and given to players with a total worth of less than $1000.

Spending
I'm sure you won't have a problem finding things to spend your money on, however there are some essentials.

• Weapons: Buy weapons to build your arsenal and defend yourself.
• Vehicles: Buy vehicles to help you get around and to show off.
• Garages Buy a garage to store your personal vehicles.
• Properties: Purchase properties to gain access to vehicle storage, a safe for weapon/ammo storage and invite friends over for fun.