Eli's money - where did he get it?

[Ash]

Given Eli's ability to fly, even just a few kilometres while weak and hungry, he did have access to quite a large edible population away from Blackeberg, perhaps even in Stockholm's denser populated inner suburbs.
On a full stomach, he could easily fly great distances to carry out robberies and throw off suspicion.
I think Eli would have to travel some distance to feed (twice a week?), if he was to remain in Blackerberg and not be quickly tracked down.
His feeding range could possibly look like this. Pure conjecture of course.

[a_contemplative_life]

Both of our theories are speculative.

Agreed, I just like my version better.

Well at least you're honest about it.

[metoo]

Given Eli's ability to fly, even just a few kilometres while weak and hungry, he did have access to quite a large edible population away from Blackeberg, perhaps even in Stockholm's denser populated inner suburbs.
On a full stomach, he could easily fly great distances to carry out robberies and throw off suspicion.

Yes, flying would extend his feeding range. BTW, your range isn't very large, I think a reasonable one would be at least a magnitude larger (20 km radius).

Robberies have the problem of creating witnesses, though. The police would quickly be alarmed of reports about a small child robbing people. And people don't carry enough money around to make it worthwhile, given the stash of cash Eli already has.

Burglary is more probable, and the problem of carrying the stuff back might be solved by a rucksack (Eli's hands being occupied as part of or at least attached to his wings/arms).

I have considered flying something Eli doesn't do often, but that isn't really warranted by the novel. Maybe he generally travels on his wings, when he doesn't need to have a protector's company. Eli does escape from the hospital by flying, and supposedly flies to Oskar's bedroom window - no tracks in the snow, and in the movie he explicitly says so. So I might change my mind on that. I think I already have!

[metoo]

I think the spending we see Eli do is influenced by Oskar. She offers Oskar far more than is needed for his broken headphones because she feels bad and doesn't want Oskar to be mad and leave.

Yes, I think Eli offers the money because he wants to repay Oskar for the damage. But then he makes a mistake, and offers far too much - possibly because he didn't have a good understanding about a realistic cost. Maybe this is intended to show how detached Eli is from society?

When she buys the blood, she offers enough money to get it, but she is only buying it because of Oskar. (otherwise she would have just made a meal of Tommy and ran)

Yes, here Eli pays a more reasonable amount - although still a lot of money, more then half an average monthly salary (before tax, to that). So maybe he did know the value of money.

It is easier to hold on to the money you have when your expenses are few, like Eli. Although she has had several, she doesn't always have a helper. During those times with no helper she may have stayed in abandoned locations and caves. She gets her cloths from the trash, typically doesn't pay for meals, no insurance, bills, etc.

True. Eli would have to spend money only occasionally. But maybe Eli feeds on payed donors like Tommy regularly, to avoid having to kill? After all, the episode in the novel wasn't the first one. This would require a lot of money.

Also, it would have only taken a few wealthy people (or one really wealthy person) over the course of 200 years to give her a nice stash. There is also the possibility that the cash is a recent acquisition. Her last helper could have been wealthy.

The money seems to be fairly recent Swedish notes all of them. This contradicts that Eli had collected it a long time, although he could have continuously 'upgraded' his money, of course. Thus, I still think Eli has a reliable means of replenishing his money.

The question is whether Eli has any means to get rich people to pay. Threatening to expose a rich paedophilic might work only if Eli wouldn't get exposed from it himself. But a rich person might not need to be threatened to pay, if he is sufficiently wealthy to afford it anyway. He would take the cost, rich people by cars that cost the equivalence of several average annual salaries, so to buy a beautiful child that wouldn't expose him would maybe seem affordable.

If this is the source of the money, Eli didn't lie to Oskar, but wouldn't want to tell.

[metoo]

Now, on to the next question:

Where will Oskar and Eli get their money?

Assuming they will need some money, they will ned to get it. Burglary seems reasonable, the occasional robbery, too. What about wealthy helpers?

[Ash]

What about wealthy helpers?

Some have suggested here that very few would ever take in Eli as he was a vampire, but now you're suggesting that someone would take in two vampire kids?
I think that's possible, but I suspect you won't get much support from others.

Yes, flying would extend his feeding range. BTW, your range isn't very large,

Eli often complained of weakness when hungry, and I think flying would be exhausting, so I kept the food-gathering range quite small.
With a full tummy, his range would be much larger.

[drakkar]

Now, on to the next question:

Where will Oskar and Eli get their money?

Assuming they will need some money, they will ned to get it. Burglary seems reasonable, the occasional robbery, too. What about wealthy helpers?

You've already an answer to that in your fanfic which I feel is as good as any. Wealthy helpers? I believe this could be a part of Eli's past, so at least he should be able to assess whether this is something for him and Oskar or not. But I'm uncertain about what his conclusions would.

[Casper]

I think scamming is another excellent way to get money. When Eli is weak, he looks, as Oskar describes, a holocaust victim. Dressed in proper clothes, he could very easily sit on the street and look like a malnourished little girl in desperate need of money. His regenerative powers would also allow him (during eras involving cars) to get "accidentally" hit by a car, motivating the driver to give him copious amounts of money for his silence, not a very uncommon scam at all. Eli's ability to fly, stealth in the shadows, and his small size would also make him an excellent spy.

[rgh]

If people in Europe are as careless as those here in the US, there is a lot of valuable stuff left in cars, which they wouldn't need permission to enter. Easy money. Kids (12-16 yrs old) locally have been doing this recently. Often they just open the door, as people often leave them unlocked.

I also believe that they would look quite pitiful when hungry, allowing them to collect a modest sum of money. A wealthy benefactor would be ideal, except that it tends to come at a high price that Eli shouldn't have to pay any more and I'm sure she doesn't want to subject Oskar to that.

Cash would be increasingly difficult to acquire, as we are dealing with it less every day. I know I keep minimal cash with me, so they will probably have to start learning some high tech means of generating cash as they enter the current time period. (legitimate or not) Legitimate could be interesting.

[c00lm3n]

I personally think that when Eli left/escaped from the vamp lord, she might have stolen some of his valuables; Items like the Egg puzzle is just one example? Over the years, the items must have inflated in value as well since they can be considered as antiques after 200 years, then she might have gotten her past helpers to sell off the item one by one. If some of the items are worth nearly as much as the Egg, she could have gotten millions easily EACH item sold that can last quite a long time considering her minimum expenses like many have mentioned. 30k since she moved in is just a tiny percent of what ONE item can fetch.

I also think that Eli really doesn't know the value of the money itself. Example she mention that the Egg should be worth around 50m but thought that it can be used to buy a Nuclear Plant while Oskar explained it's actually billions.

I DO NOT think she robbed from victims she killed for blood. Neither on streets nor those she requested to enter their home; like the Cancer woman.