GTA Online is being continuously updated with new content by Rockstar, for free. These DLCs add new missions, items, modes and other various features to the game, giving players further things to do in-game and more vehicles, weapons and properties to purchase. The thing that typically separates DLC content from vanilla? They're more expensive - not always, granted, but the best new toys usually have a hefty price tag.

We've seen jets and yachts cost 10 million in in-game currency. Paying for ammo for more specialized weaponry is a constant drain on your bank accounts. Fully upgraded lowriders cost upward of a million. To keep up with the competition, you'll need to upgrade your arsenal occasionally and you'll need to fill your garage with vehicles that fit any kind of challenge the game throws at you.

At the same time, acquiring cash is a slow process in GTA Online. Thus, whenever a new DLC is announced, players often flood the post with comments about how they'll be grinding the Pacific Standard heist or VIP missions in preparation for release. This is usually said in a negative sense, as running heists without a set team is a time-consuming affair due to players often leaving during the starting cutscenes. Plus, grinding is a monotonous affair and can easily take the fun out of the game.

"But these missions are the most lucrative and I need the new vehicle/weapon/thing as fast as possible!" I hear you say.

Well, firstly, no you don't.

Secondly, even so, you need not grind. Doing the two best paying VIP jobs back to back on an infinite loop might get you the cash you need slightly faster than expanding your mission range with different jobs (such as missions that *gasp* you actually enjoy playing), but when grinding, what takes you 3 hours will feel like three days once you're done, while having fun with the game will zip past quick - and the cash adds up.

You can calculate how long a mission takes with relation to how much you make and go on a max-efficiency run, but you'll take the game out of the game and the payoff won't be as good. How many times have you read people complain that they ground for countless hours "for this"? If you enjoyed the process of gaining the cash, then its a reward in and of itself, with the coveted vehicle/weapon/thing at the end a bonus.

Do you usually grind when in need of cash in GTA Online, or do you go with the flow and play what you feel like?