Six Tips to Earn Bells in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Six ways to make bells in Animal Crossing and tips on how to do them. This includes a tip on how to catch wasps every time and how to make you seashells net you a larger profit than simply selling them at the store.


Is this your first time being indebted to Tom Nook? Or maybe you need to save those bells up for a Royal Crown. Whatever the case is, these six tips will help you out.


Hit Those Rocks


In New Horizons, you gather iron nuggets and clay from smacking rocks with shovels. Makes sense, right? This might be the first Animal Crossing with crafting, but veterans have been hitting rocks since 2001. Each day, one rock on your island will give you up to 16,100 bells if you can hit it all eight times before the timer runs out. Unfortunately, that coveted eighth hit can be hard to get, putting your gains back by 8,000 bells.



Thankfully, with some practice, there is a trick to get that eighth bag every time. The eighth bag is so tricky to get because each time you hit the rock, you get pushed back slightly.  The trick then is to dig a couple of holes behind you and position yourself directly in between them and the rock. Now when you hit the rock, you won't be pushed out of range.


Plant Money Trees


Do you ever see that golden aura of light on the ground? Don't ignore it! Dig it up to earn 1,000 bells. That might not be a significant amount, but the secret in Animal Crossing is that money DOES grow on trees. If you plant bells back in the hole, a few days later, you'll have a money tree you can shake to earn some bells.


Animal Crossing: New Horizons


Be aware, though; these trees typically max out when you bury 10,000 bells. Burying 10,000 will yield three bags of 10,000 back, netting you 20,000 in profit. Rumor has it though, every other tree you plant will allow you to earn more. We suggest burying 11,000 to learn the pattern that way, you are only at risk of losing 1,000 bells, at most.


Collect Seashells


Just like Sally sold seashells by the seashore, you can sell your seashells at Nook's shop. You have his shop by the shore, don't you? Another benefit is you will find any messages in a bottle that might have washed up. You can find all sorts of recipes in these. If you're lucky, you will find the shell furniture recipes. If you have any of these, you should know that you can often use the seashells to craft furniture that will sell for significantly more than the seashells by themselves were.


Animal Crossing: New Horizons


Catch Wasps Every Single Time


If you find yourself shaking trees around your island, you should know that not only fruit falls out of them. One of the surprises you might see isn't so friendly, though. Wasp nests will sometimes fall out of the tree - and the wasps aren't happy about it. They will sting you, and if you're not careful and wasps hurt you a second time, you'll faint and find yourself back at your house.


Conveniently, if you catch the wasps, they will net you a pretty penny. How do you catch the wasps, you ask? First off, make sure you're shaking trees with your net out. Then you want to make sure you're always standing on the front side of the tree when you shake it.


When you shake the tree and wasps fall out, you'll startle and face them. If you already have your net out, you can press A to catch them as soon as you can. If you're not in front of the tree, when you face the wasps and swing your net, you might find the tree in between and instead hit it with your net, leaving the wasps to sting you.


Fruit Exchange


Selling your fruit is a great way to make some extra bells. But wait just a second before you sell your native fruit to Mr. Nook! If you have a friend with a different native fruit, visit their island to sell your fruit for five times as much!


Bug Philanthropist and Fishing Extraordinaire


Finally, look up what bugs and fish are currently in season. Often there are one or two you can focus on that will net you a hefty sum of bells. If nothing else on this list is helping you, there is an endless supply of these to keep you going.