5 Ways to Make A lot of Bells in Animal Crossing: New Leaf

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Let’s face it… upgrading your home in Animal Crossing is expensive! In Animal Crossing: New Leaf, you not only have to spend a lot of bells to upgrade your home; but paying for public works projects in your town is even more costly. There are plenty of ways to gain bells in Animal Crossing: New Leaf, picking up sea shells near the beach, selling fruit, fishing from ponds (which I was looking forward to upon release), and catching butterflies; but I have found in my time playing that there are five ways that you can make a lot of bells fast.

5. Investing in the “Stalk Market”

Joan

Joan appears every Sunday selling Turnips in your town in Animal Crossing: New Leaf.

On Sundays in your town, you will be visited by Joan who will sell you turnips for a randomized price. These turnips are not for planting or eating (yum… turnip salad) but they are for re-selling to Re-Tail during the week. Your goal with Joan’s turnips? Buy low and sell high! Re-Tail’s prices will change twice a day so keep checking back and I always recommend buying A LOT of turnips if Joan is selling them nice and cheap! SIDE NOTE: Joan also warns you to not “time travel” with turnips… they WILL wilt!

4. Shaking Trees and Thumpin’ Rocks

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Oooh! A ruby! Thwack rocks in Animal Crossing: New Leaf to get bells quick.

Looking for some quick cash? Take your trusty shovel and start hitting rocks around your town! A well kept secret in the Animal Crossing series is that every day there is a rock in your town that will drop bells when hit with your shovel. When you find it, keep hitting it until you hear the iconic one up tune from Super Mario Brothers! The rock has a chance of dropping up to 7,500 bells! The rocks in Animal Crossing: New Leaf now have a chance of breaking into precious ore like rubies or sapphires. These gems can be sold at Re-Tail for up to 4,000 bells. After you find your special rock, shake trees! The trees in your town have a chance of dropping random furniture, bells, and bee hives that sell very well at Re-Tail (just don’t get stung… your villagers will ridicule you to no end!)

3. Re-sell at Re-Tail

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Always re-sell unused items at Re-Tail.

Some of your villagers will be super nice and give you furniture for your home, for example, one of my villagers gave me a giant bishop. Yup. A giant Chess piece. Now maybe some people would have find some way to use a giant Chess piece in their interior decorating but I just couldn’t… so I set it up for sale at Re-Tail. Re-sell old furniture, tools, clothes, or accessories. Your villagers will occasionally show up in Re-Tail and ask your opinion on whether or not they should buy your item. Always tell them yes! Sometimes they will and sometimes they won’t! I will usually buy items from Nookling’s Junction and re-sell them at Re-Tail for a higher price.

2. Fish for Sharks

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Sharks are elusive in Animal Crossing: New Leaf but they are worth it.

Fishing can get you buku bucks but always keep your eyes open for evasive sharks in the ocean. There are several different types of sharks and they all sell for different prices but one shark can sell at Re-Tail for up to 15,000 bells! They don’t spawn often, however, but I have gotten very lucky in the past and made almost 100,ooo bells in 30 minutes from a lucky spawn of sharks.

1. Forage on Your Island… at night!

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Beetles sell like hotcakes in Animal Crossing: New Leaf.

The absolute BEST way I have found to make fast bells in Animal Crossing: New Leaf is to head out to my island after 6PM and forage the heck out of the island! Large beetles begin spawning in the evening that can be sold at Re-Tail for as high as 20,000 or more! These beetles are incredibly elusive so utilize your sneak ability when trying to catch these guys on trees. The rare Whale Shark also spawns exclusively on your island and they can be sold to Re-Tail for 13,000 bells. If you get bored fishing or catching bugs, slip on your wet suit and go deep sea diving! The items that you obtain from diving can sell for as high as 5,000 bells. Usually I can make up to 500,000 bells on a good night on the island.

By using all of these strategies I have been able to continuously pay off my home debts and expand every day. Do you have another way of making a lot of bells? Share your secrets with me!


EDIT: If you’re still looking for extra ways to make bells quick, check out our continuation guide to see even MORE ways to make a lot of bells fast!

5 Comments

  1. Vincent

    This guide is basic but if you are new to AC then this is perfect for you. A side note: One rock a day will spit out bells if you strike it with a shovel or ax (don’t use the ax as it is breakable) and then there is a new rock that appears in your town each day that when struck will break into an ore. You covered this but I figured I’d clarify the details a bit. If you upgrade your museum you can purchase a silver net, rod, and shovel. The rod and net make catching prey easier but the shovel does something really cool, if you strike your “bell rock” with it, it will sometimes shoot out all ores instead of money bags! Profit!

    Reply
    1. Lorie (Post author)

      Great tips, Vincent! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Kai

    I cut all my trees down on my island what do i do now

    Reply
    1. Effigy

      You can replant trees…if you want to make bells from beetles just plant the Palm tree style trees on the sand.

      Reply
    2. Lorie (Post author)

      Hey, Kai! If you have the gardening shop open in your town you can just re-plant trees but if you are wanting to focus on making bells then just re-plant palm trees (i.e. coconuts and bananas) and the high profit beetles will spawn more often. Hope that helps!

      Reply

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