While there's a lot to do in Animal Crossing New Horizons, most of the activities you choose will allow you to collect Nook Miles or Bells.
Your main objective? Pay off the different Tom Nook loans, and make your home bigger. Here are some tips for earning maximum currency in the game.
Sell at Nook's Cranny
At the start of the game, Resident Services will be open 24 hours a day, and you can sell your finds.
Once Nook's Cranny is unlocked, you'll have to be careful to sell your items between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. — otherwise you incur the drop box tax.
For example, the Red Snapper fish is normally worth 3000 Bells. However, by selling it via the drop box, you will only receive 2,400 Bells!
If you can only play at night, we advise you to store items, fish and insects at home, or by place them outside, so you can sell them manually the following morning.
Either way, most of the tips in this guide are about selling the best things to Timmy and Tommy.
Tip 1: Spot rare insects and fish
Whatever the time of year, your island is full of rare insects and fish — you just need to know the right times to catch them. For example, if you play in the evening, from 6 p.m., you will be more likely to come across Tarantulas. Each one is worth 8,000 Bells!
In Summer, you will find several rare fish and insects: sharks and beetles are worth a fortune! Don't hesitate to plant coconut trees all along your beach to maximize your chances of seeing beetles.
Tip 2: Dig up Fossils daily
Every day, your island's resources are reset. Rocks again provide stone, clay and ore, trees provide wood, cracks reappear in the ground.
Fossils are worth a fortune, so dig them up daily to have them assessed by Blathers. With a little luck, they'll be duplicates, meaning you can then sell them for top Bell dollar.
Seashells are also a good source of Bells, so go beachcombing for them as soon as you can!
Tip 3: Think about the Daily Offer
Nook's Cranny offers a new product every day: an item that you can sell at an excellent price, and which is often easy to craft afterwards.
Tip 4: Balloons appear in the sky every 10 minutes!
Arm yourself with your Slingshot and watch the sky! Every 10 minutes or so, a balloon will fly over your island — pop it, and you can collect superb rewards, such as Bells, DIY Recipes, furniture, clothes, and more.
Tip 5: Daily Nook Miles
When you have paid off your tent loan, Tom Nook will update your Nook Miles app. You will unlock the possibility to earn Miles daily, by completing various tasks. These are often very simple challenges, that can earn you a significant number of Miles in a single day.
Once the Town Hall is unlocked, you can then buy Bell Vouchers. These cost 500 Nook Miles each, and can be sold for 3,000 Bells.
Tip 6: The Money Rock
One of the rocks on your island will be filled with Bells every day!
To maximize your gain, dig a hole behind your character so that you are not too affected by recoil once you hit the rock with your shovel. Also, make sure to clear any of the squares immediately surrounding it.
If you do this correctly, up to 8 bags of Bells will come flying out, earning you a little more than 16,000 Bells per day.
Tip 7: Other islands
For 2000 Nook Miles, you can buy a Nook Miles Ticket. This lets you travel to a Mystery Island via the airport, each of which is different and full of resources you can sell.
One of the rarest islands you can discover is one full of Tarantulas. These respawn endlessly, allowing you to catch as many as your inventory can handle.
Tarantulas sell at Nook's Cranny for 8,000 Bells each, but for extra Bells wait for Flick to come to your island — he'll buy them at a premium!
You may even come across an even more rare island — one with five Money Rocks at its center!
Tip 8: Wait for Flick
As mentioned above, Flick really loves bugs. If you catch any rare insects such as theTarantula, store them at home (or outside) and wait for the Flick to come to your island.
He'll buy any insects from you, at a rich premium — for example, those 8,000 Bells you usually get for Tarantulas will become 12,000 from Flick!
The Money Tree, the Stalk Market, and other tips
One major technique technique in previous games was the Money Tree, and it has recently been confirmed in New Horizons.
Sometimes, you'll see a glowing golden spot on your island. Simply dig it up for a bag of 1,000 Bells. But that's not all!
If you then plant a bag of 10,000 bells, a few days later you'll reap three times the amount when the Money Tree matures. It's not yet confirmed if this works for other amounts, so you may even be able to plant even more Bells for greater reward!
Another tactic is to play the 'Stalk Market'. Every Sunday morning, between 5 AM and 12 PM, Daisy Mae will come to the island to sell Turnips at a specific price. You can re-sell these turnips to Timmy and Tommy whenever you like — but there's a catch.
Like all good commodities, the sale price of these Turnips will fluctuate — twice per day. You can check the price with Timmy and Tommy, before 12 PM and after.
Your challenge is to keep hold of them long enough to get the best price, but be careful — the Turnips will go bad the following Sunday, so you need to sell them before then.
Other tips include the following:
- Collect the fruit your island bears each day. Your starting fruit is worth 100 Bells per unit, but if you have successfully planted fruit from other islands, you can then sell them for up to 500 Bells each!
- Talk to the locals often. You can sometimes offer them items from your inventory, which they will sometimes reward with Bells or an item.
If you know other tips for earning money, feel free to share them in the comments section below!
