Secondary Source of Resources

One of the actions that a Sim can take is to dig in the sand.  Find a spot on your lot that allows you to dig and you can start digging up some great little trinkets. You can sell them in the Barter Mode or use them as decorations on your lot.

The other aspect of digging is that it makes the Sim tired and dirty. I have my Sim dig once each Sim day for a little extra change in their pocket without over tiring or getting extremely filthy. A find does not happen every time, but on the average, about one out of four digging tries, something will be unearthed. I even do this on the Shipwrecked and Single section, to provide extra resources before my Sim can work and even after he/she can, just to be able to purchase better household/lot provisions.

Find	Value	Example
big pond peddlers driftwood	10
big pond peddlers driftwood deluxe	15
galactic marbles	20
I clam what I clam	20
bit of vug	37
pagoda by the memories	37
play it again toucan pam	90
conch	100
infinity armed bandit starfish	200
frog of good tidings	210
treacherous luck dragon	215

Can't find any areas on your lot for digging?  You can create some.  First save the lot before attempting this. In Build Mode, open the Terrain tool and select ground cover. Two types of cover work best; Hand ground sand and Sandy grass.  You may have to put a lot in the area that you want to be able to dig. You may need spend over 40- 50 resources.  I will click the Sand cover option 10 times, then try the Sim to see if it can dig.  I keep doing this 10 at a time until I finally have a nice area for digging. Usually, right outside the front door of the house or near a pond. Another option is to leave the lot and dig at a community lot.

Renewable Resource Items

There are not a lot of ways to make money on Castaway Stories. You can sell your paintings. or you can purchase resource items that will eventually provide some resource income on a regular basis. Some lots will already have some resource items on them, so purchasing the item may not be necessary.

The most comment renewable resource is the wood pile. However, if you don't leave your lot (except to work) you may have to wait up to a "Sim" week to earn 3 more Simoleons. If you leave your lot to visit some other lot, when you come back, the wood is available again to cut.

Personlly, the most frequently renewing items are you best bet. The Bamboo, Stones and Bones are the quickest to renew without leaving the lot. Bamboo requires the Machete which will cost you 40 Simoleons. You earn a little every day. If you purchase the Machete and the plant, it will take 20 Sims days to start making a profit.On the other hand, if you purchase the Stone and the Pick Axe, it will take you a little over 62 gatherings to recoup your investment. So, it's important to think about the amount of time it will take to recover from the original expenses. I feel that the Bones are the best investment. Just about anyone living on the lot can gather them as soon as they become available (approximately every other day), and no additional tools are necessary. It will take 14 gatherings (approximately 30 Sim days) to begin to receive the profit of 15 Simoleons per gathering. Bamboo is another quite rewards investment of 6 Simoleons per day after about 20 days.

The renewable resources are also fair game on the public lots, but their refresh time frame seems slower than on the Sim's primary lot. 

Below is a table

Option	Resource Price	Renewing Sim Value	Approx. Refresh	Collected By	Tool Needed	Tool Expense	Profit after Gathering X times	Image
Woodpile	40	3	1 wk or leave lot & return	Adults/Elders	Hatchet	5	15
Bamboo	80	6	7/8 of a day	Adults/Elders	Machete	40	20
Stone	160	12	1-1/8 of a day	Adults/Elders	Pick Axe	475	62
Bones	200	15	every other day	All Except Infants & Toddlers	None	0	14
Grass (PhenoPlast)	280	7	every other day	Adults/Elders	Machete	40	46
Parts	320	29	4.5 days	Adults/Elders	None	0	14
Obsidian	400	30	6 days	Adults/Elders	Pick Axe	475	30