How to Make Money in San Andreas

 San Andreas offers the player a huge variety of ways to make money. I've collected together some of the best ways. 

I have excluded missions from this list as you are obviously aware that you earn money from doing them. Furthermore, you didn't search for this article in order to find that out. So don't write in the comments that I left out missions

MegaBucks

There are several things you can go in San Andreas which will give you large one off payments which significantly boost your bank balance. Example include:

• $50,000 for completing the freight missions. + earnings
• $13,450 for completing Fire-fighter missions + earnings
• $10,000 completing for completing courier missions + earnings

Dependable Earnings

• Taxi driver. Slow at first but earnings increases significantly with the number of fares in a row.
• Killing drug dealers
• Buying/acquiring assets and collecting the money
• Fire fighter, paramedic and vigilante missions
• Redoing trucking and freight missions
• Burglary   

Spend Less

When your playing San Andreas your not just looking to make money you also want to get your moneys worth. Your biggest expense in the game will be weapons so anything you can do to save on them will make a big difference especially when you have to endlessly retry missions.

• Spray all 100 tags and free weapons will appear at your Ganton safe house
• Collect all the horseshoes and weapons will spawn in front of the Four Dragons
• Complete pimping missions and prostitutes will pay you.
• Eat fatty meals (not too many) and you won't need to buy food as often.
• Get weapons by stealing them from rival gang members
• Keep your weapons after getting wasted/busted by dating Katie Zhan and Barbara Schtenvart
• Learn where to find weapons instead of buying them.

Assets (businesses)

Assets provide a good income over time. However, you have to to collect it which is a pain. You are best to memorise the location of assets and swing by and collect the money whenever you are in the area. For example, every time you land or get a plane from Verdant Meadows collect your earnings.

Asset	Location	How to get it	Income
Johnston House	Ganton, Los Santos	Produces income after Doberman/ Home coming missions. Income increases with the number of hoods you control.	$8,000
Zero's RC	Garcia, San Fierro	Complete Zero's Missions and buy for $30,000	$5,000
Wang Cars	Downtown, San Fierro	Complete driving school and Yay Ka Boom Boom and buy for $50,000	$8,000
RS Hall	Flint County	Complete trucking missions	$2,000
Hunter Quarry	Bone County	Complete quarry missions	$2,000
Vank Hoff Hotel	Financial, San Fierro	Complete valet parking task	$2,000
Roboi's Food Mart	Commerce, Los Santos	Complete courier mission (on BMX outside asset)	$2,000
Hippy Shopper	Queens, San Fierro	Complete courier mission (on Freeway outside asset)	$2,000
Burger Shot	Redsands East, Las Venturas	Complete courier mission (on Faggio outside asset)	$2,000
Verdant Meadows	Bone County,	Buy for $80,000 for the mission “Verdant Meadows”	$10,000

Cheating

The above tips and tricks take time and perhaps your just too impatient for that. So, for completeness I have included a section on ways you can cheat to increase your money.

The following cheats will give you $250,000 when used: R1 R2 L1, X, LEFT, DOWN RIGHT UP LEFT DOWN RIGHT UP on PS2 or HESOYAM on PC.

The other way you can cheat without entering cheat codes is by using what gamers call a “soft reset”. That is turning the console on and off until you get what you want. This can be used to make money in the casinos (need access to third island) or by betting on the horses. What you do is go to the casino or betting shop and bet all your money. If you loose simply turn off the console and try again. When using this tactic your best to play either blackjack to double your money or to bet on a row and colour in Roulette.

Best Cheats in San Andreas (for PS2 and PC)

Using cheats can be a lot of fun. In this post I've collected a number of my favourites which you should try out.

However, your best not to save after using these. Using cheats can corrupt save files and will lower your criminal rating.

Insane Handling

TRIANGLE, R1, R1, LEFT, R1, L1, R2, L1.

PC: STICKLIKEGLUE

Spawn Hunter (attack helicopter armed with missiles)

CIRCLE, X, L1, CIRCLE, CIRCLE, L1, CIRCLE, R1 R2, L2, L1, L1

PC: OHDUDE

Super Powerful Punch (people will go flying if you hit them)

UP, LEFT, X, TRIANGLE, R1, CIRCLE, CIRCLE, CIRCLE, L2

PC: IAVENJQ

Cars Fly

PS2: UP, DOWN, L1, R1, L1, RIGHT, LEFT, L1, LEFT

PC: RIPAZHA

Super Jump (be able to jump insanely high)

Up, Up, Triangle, Triangle, Up, Up, Left, Right, Square, R2, R2

PC: LFGMHAL

Super Bunny Hop (jump insanely high on a BMX)

Triangle, Square, Circle, Circle, Square, Circle, Circle, L1, L2, L2, R1, R2

PC: JHJOECW

Tank Car (your car becomes invincible and can explode other cars on touch)

L1, L2, L2, Up, Down, Down, Up, R1, R2, R2

PC: JCNRUAD 

Help with Chiliad Challenge: How to Complete it Easily by Cheating

The Chiliad challenge is not very much fun. It's the one where you have to race down mount chillard on a bike.So you may want to, essentially, skip it by cheating. The challenge is required for 100% completions so there is no way around doing it. But don't despair – it can be done very easily. The truth is: you don't even have to be first across the finish line to win the race!

What to do is start the race and let everyone else win. Just go a long at your own pace and ignore the other racers. Once you get see the finishing line – stop. Now take out a sniper rifle and kill all the other racers (You can get one at the nearby Amu-Nation before the race). You'll notice your position improves with every one you take out. When you've got them all you'll be in first place. Now cycle over the line victorious.

However, pay attention to the countdown timer that starts when you get off the bike. If it goes to zero you will loose and have to start again. So shoot a few, get back on the bike and then get off again and get the rest.  

Boxville Locations San Andreas (Burglary Missions)

In order to do the burglary side missions you need to have completed the mission Home Invasion and get in a black Boxville. Not, just any Boxville – it has to be a black one. These can only be found at specific locations and cannot be found driving on the roads.

Only one of these can be found on each island. There locations are, by island:

• Los Santos: Opposite the Gym in Ganton.
• San Fierro: opposite the fire station in Doherty (run down building). Not far from the garage save point.
• Las Venturas: in Pilgrim behind a building right next to the intersection with the free-way.

General Tips

• Carry a silenced pistol
• The best money can be make in Prickle Pine and Vinewood.

If you earn $10,000 from these missions you will get infinite sprint and a $3,000 bonus.

How to Get 100% Completion on GTA San Andreas

100% completion is easier said than done. The problem is that you've ignored certain hard stuff in the game and now your going to have to complete all of them. Furthermore, some of it is very dull going.

You can check your completion percentage by pressing start and then going to stats then miscellaneous.

Required

• Complete all missions
• Buy all safe houses
• Acquire all assets
• Spray all 100 tags
• Take all 50 snapshots
• Collect 50 horseshoes and 50 oysters
• Finish all events at the stadiums
• Learn all the moves at the three gyms
• Complete all the Amu-Nation shooting challenges.
• Complete:
  • Paramedic missions
  • Vigilante missions
  • Fire-fighter missions
  • Pimping
  • Taxi (50 fares does not need to be in a row)
  • Freight Train
• Complete vehicle challenges
  • BMX challenge
  • NGR-500 challenge (Easter basin, San Fierro)
  • Chillard Challenge
• Finish import/export missions (30 cars)
• Win all races (see white squares on map)

Not Required

You may have assumed that certain things would be required. You do not need to bother with any of these to get 100% completion:

• Taking over all territories
• Getting Hitman rating in all weapons
• Getting King of San Andreas as your criminal rating
• Dating all girls

Rewards

When you complete the above you will get 

• One Million dollars
• Infinite Ammunition
• Double vehicle strength
• Rhino tank parked on the bridge over Ganton
• Hydra on top of Sweets house

In addition a BMX appears in front of the Police station in Los Santos. Not very exciting though...

K Rose Songs List

All of the songs on K rose are country songs and were not written specifically for the game. They include such legends as Merle Haggard, Eddie Rabbitt and Wille Neloson. K rose is what originally got me into country music.  

Song List 

• Jerry Reed - Amos Moses 
• Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn -Louisiana Woman, Mississippi Man 
• Hank Williams -Hey Good Lookin 
• Juice Newton -Queen of Hearts 
• Asleep At The Wheel -The Letter That Johnny Walker Read 
• The Desert Rose Band - One Step Forward 
• Willie Nelson -Crazy 
• Pasty Cline - Three Cigarettes in the Ashtray 
• Mickey Gilley -Make The World Go Away 
• Ed Bruce -Mama Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys 
• Merle Haggard -Always Wanting You 
• Whitey Shafer - All My Exes Live In Texas
• Eddie Rabbit: I love a Rainny Night 
• Statler Brothers - “New York City”
• Statler Brothers - “Bed of Roses”

You can listen to the complete album on Youtube. Here is a video I found: 

And since you seem to like country music here is another one of Eddie Rabbits songs you may like: 

Can you Complete GTA San Andreas without Using Any Cheats?

The short answer is: yes. I've done it. It can be done.

However, not using cheats makes the game significantly more difficult especially at the beginning. I know people who claim that San Andreas can not be completed without cheats.

The main problems you face when you don't use cheats is that of money and weapons. You have probably got used to having the best weapons right at the very start without having to pay for them. Winning the gun battles at the start with an M4 is not very difficult.

As a result you will die more which is, of course, expensive. Some missions will require you to buy weapons. Having to retry these missions several times gets very expensive.

This is not to say that you can never use cheats. Cheats are fun. But you should not save your game after using these cheats. Go and save then play around with some cheats – turning off the console before saving. 

How to fly The Hydra in GTA San Andreas

The Hydra is without a doubt the most difficult plane to fly. However, once you get the hang of it you will learn to love the controls and find that the Hydra is one of the best planes to fly.

So, first things first...

Take off

To take off you just need to hold down X. This will make you hover. You can move slowly forward and backward using the left analogue stick.

Now, get up to a decent height before trying to fly forward.

Flying

To fly you need to move the nozzles from pointing downward to pointing backwards. You do this by pushing the right analogue stick forward and holding it until you start to go forward (you have to press X too). You also need to retract the landing gear by pressing down the left analogue stick.

The plane should now fly as normal. You can also drop a flare by pressing O or fire missiles with L1.

Landing

There are two possible ways to land:

1. As normal – lower landing gear with R3 and land
2. Vertically – slow the aircraft and move the thrusters so they point downwards using the right analogue stick. The hold down square which will lower you down. Again, remember to lower the landing gear. 

Plane Locations in San Andreas

By far the fastest way to move around the extensive map in GTA is to use aeroplanes. The fastest being the hydra by far, probably followed by the enormous AT-400 and the Shamal.

Hydra

A super fast, highly maneuverable fighter jet.

• Available on top of Sweets house in Ganton when you have 100% completion 
• Verdant Meadows (after completing Vertical Bird)
• Easter Bay Naval Base 
• Area 69

AT-400

A massive commercial airliner. Difficult to get out of hanger and to fly. 

• Found inside a hanger at the airport in Las Ventura. It's at the south side and you have to stand in front of the hanger door and wait for it to open. It does not always appear so drive off and try again if it's not there. 

Dodo 

Small slow but easy to handle plane. 

• At each of the three airports 

Skimmer 

Basically a dodo that can land on water. 

• In front of the Sherman Dam, Bone County, Third Island. 
• Bayside Marina, Tierra Rob, Third Island
• Arco del Oste, Bone County, Third Island 
• Near Tee Pee Model, Bone County, Third Island 

Beagle 

Propeller powered aircraft. 

• Easter Bay Airport, San Fierro 
• Fort Carson, Bone County (may be imposible to fly out)

Crop Duster 

Light aircraft

•  On top of a hill in Flint County, near the Farm (where you stole the combine for Truth)
• North of the Hunter Quarry. 

Nevada 

Bulky aircraft based on the DC-3. 

• Easter Bay Airport, San Fierro (does not always spawn)

Rustler 

Antique fighter jet. 

• Easter Bay Airport, San Fierro
• Verdant Meadows 

Shamal 

Fast business jet

• Found at all three airports 

Stuntplane 

Very hard to fly but you can do some amazing tricks with it. Try pressing R3 when flying. 

• Verdant Meadows after all flying school challenges compete to silver or above.