before i got into trading and made my bells that way, going to the island at night and beetle farming/catching sharks was the best way for me to make money lol
- Catching beetles and sharks on the island during the evening
- Meow coupons
- Perfect fruit orchards and sell the baskets in another town I have with different native fruit
I just visited the island at nighttime and spent some hours there catching rare bugs and fishes. It was one of my favorite ways to make bells back then.
I took back and fourth night trips to the island and caught the rare golden stag over and over again (with a few other expensive beetles and sharks to fill time) and sold them to re-tail! I found this to be the fastest and easiest way to get bells quick, I would make about 200k every trip. Also make sure you throwback fish like sea bass, I would only throw my line in if there was a shark!
I originally made most of my money by going to the island 4-9pm and catching expensive fish and bugs, then seeking them back in town and would easily get 300,000 bells per trip!
Honestly the fastest way was turnips and finding the right island to visit to sell them off for big profits. But it can also be a gamble and you don't want to wait too long to sell them!
Turnips wasn't a huge thing for me. What I did is made a town purely for selling it to tom nook, and then I sold it and started my real town. I also make around 270,000 every three days for selling loads of perfect fruit to my sister's town.