Editing Money making guide

There are lots of ways to "make money" in RimWorld.  Depending on the strengths/weaknesses of your colony, its location and inhabitants, some might be more lucrative or attractive than others. Some might give more profit in the long term, but require more set-up time, or more labor. And there are (at least!) two ways to measure "best" - making the fastest profit in the least time, or squeezing the most profit out of a limited amount of starting material, even if it takes longer.  This guide will give an overview of the different options, with links to guides that expand in more detail on that specific pursuit.

In no particular order, options include:
* [[Money making guide/cash crops and drug production|Crops]], which can lead to drug production
* Animals, which can lead to textiles and Crafting
* Construction, often a byproduct of idle high-skill Constructors or unwanted lower-quality items
* [[Human resources|Prisoners]], and how to make the most of them
* Loot, found after a raid - what to sell, what to melt

Although "Trading", with visiting [[caravan]]s or by sending your own to neighboring outposts, and/or via an [[orbital trade beacon]], is an important part of economics, and a pawn with a high [[Social]] skill will get you the best prices, keep in mind that there is a base trade modifier of 60% for selling, 140% for buying, so you will not be able to "buy low, sell high" with the same items to different traders.  ''However'', some [[traders]] will only accept certain items in trade, so in that case, investing in something that is more widely accepted might be a way of turning something generally unwanted into something less valuable but that you can actually trade away.  10,000 silver in [[human leather]] is worthless if no one wants it, or if those who do have nothing you want.

=== Cash Crops ===
{{Main|Money making guide/cash crops and drug production}}
Cash crops are the ultimate renewable resource, meaning they can be relied upon season over season.

Plant work speed and harvest yield are two factors affected by skill level, manipulation, sight, and global work speed. It is crucial to have a skill level of 6 in plants, going higher may increase work speed (11.5%/level) but does not noticeably increase yield (3,2,1...%) and also allows the most profitable cash crop, [[psychoid plant]]s, to be grown. Herbal medicine is not the most profitable crop so level 8 in plants is unnecessary for cash considerations, although it may be helpful for general [[medical]] purposes. Plants level 4 is the minimum recommended level for this money making strategy.

Note on medicine:
* [[cloth]] can be bought for 1.5*1.4=2.1
* [[neutroamine]] can be bought for 6*1.4=8.4
* [[herbal medicine]] can be bought for 10*1.4=14
* [[medicine]] can be bought for 18*1.4=25.2

Therefore producing medicine from bought ingredients costs more than purchasing medicine directly, so is counterproductive and should be avoided. Medicine is 1.66 as effective as herbal medicine but almost twice as expensive so, for purely economic purposes, it's cost effective to buy herbal medicine instead of medicine. Glitterworld medicine is 1.6 times as effective but is more than twice as expensive.
Growing herbal medicine is so low profit and drug production is so costly in making real medicine that it is best to use the profits from other crops to purchase herbal medicine and medicine production should be avoided for economic purposes.

{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Crop
! Work to sow
! Work to harvest
! Total work to grow
! Raw material per plant
! Raw material value (Selling)
! Value added per unit work
! Time to grow (in normal soil, including account rest time)
! Profit per day
|-
| [[corn]]
| 170
| 200
| 370
| 22
| .66
| .039
| 20.86
| .696
|-
| [[hops]]
| 170
| 200
| 370
| 8
| .78
| .016
| 9.23
| .676
|-
| [[smokeleaf]]
| 170
| 200
| 370
| 9
| .96
| .0233
| 13.85
| .624
|-
| [[psychoid plant|psychoid]]
| 170
| 200
| 370
| 8
| 1.14
| .024
| 16.62
| .549
|-
| [[healroot]]
| 800
| 400
| 1200
| 1
| 6
| .005
| 12.92
| .464
|}

Value added labor used to make finished products may further increase profits but at a lower rate of profit per unit work. The upside is that this can be done continuously while growing is an intermittent activity. Corn is the best cash crop without further processing, however some "drug" crops can be far more profitable if processed into an end product.

Note: A grower working round the clock would be more profitable for purely selling than a grower splitting his/her time between multiple activities, including drug production. However, a specialized grower coupled with a specialized drug producer and hauler is the most profitable configuration. It is best to remove hauling from your growers work tab to maximize production (or put it at a minimal priority). It is important to notice that the best configuration and overall productivity and money saved may include a grower who also produces drugs (to keep within the colony).

Note: Go juice is something that should only be traded in one direction, bought and not sold. It is better to make it yourself though.

Note: Wake up is the most profitable for selling. It also is more profitable than money saved for several drugs, some drugs have high money saved though.

=== Drug Production ===
{|class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Drug
! Work to process
! Processed value added (selling)
! Money saved by producing and not selling
! Value added per unit work
! Money saved per unit work
|-
| [[beer]]
| 200
| 3.3
| 4.8
| .0165
| .0405
|-
| [[Smokeleaf joint|joints]]
| 450
| 2.76
| 4.4
| .0061
| .0159
|-
| [[yayo]]
| 350
| 3.48
| 8.4
| .0099
| .0339
|-
| [[flake]]
| 250
| 3.84
| 5.6
| .01536
| .03776
|-
| [[go-juice]] (made yayo)
| 950
| -6
| 21.2
| -.0063
| .016
|-
| go juice (bought yayo)
| 600
| -14.4
| 21.2
| -.024
| .0113
|-
| [[wake-up]]
| 900
| 18.2
| 14
| .02
| .0357
|-
| [[penoxycyline]]
| 600
| 1.2
| 7.2
| .002
| .014
|- 
| [[medicine]]
| 700
| -3.5
| 7.2
| -.005
| .005
|}

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