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When you're first starting out in Stardew Valley, it might be challenging to figure out how to make more money. Here are five ways to generate more income for you and your farm in Pelican Town.
Fish Whenever You Can
Fishing is one of the best ways to get a lot of extra income, especially when you're just getting started and don't have a lot of resources yet. All that's required is patience, good reflexes, and a fishing rod---which you can obtain for free from Willy early in the game.
Fishing in Stardew Valley is all about spending in-game time, especially since the energy cost of fishing is relatively low. Your character can stay up until 2 a.m., so try to max out the time you spend fishing at the end of the day. During your first few in-game weeks, after you complete your daily tasks, such as foraging and farm work, spend the rest of your time fishing.
You should also fish a lot whenever it's raining. The fish you can catch then are entirely different from what you get when it's sunny---plus, they typically sell for a higher price. Take advantage of the time you save from not having to water your crops.
Rarer, more valuable fish appear whenever you're farther away from the land. While maxing out your fishing pole consumes more energy, it might be worth it if you only have a limited time to fish. Keep an eye out for bubbles, which appear randomly in various bodies of water. Casting your pole in these spots makes fish bite significantly faster.
When you have the cash for it, upgrade your pole. You should be able to buy the Fiberglass Pole within the first few weeks. This allows you to use bait to increase your bite rate. Later, you'll be able to buy the Iridium Pole, which allows you to use tackles that have different special effects on your fishing.
Unlock the Bridge on the Beach
Another great way to make money early in the game is by having Robin build the bridge on the beach. To unlock it, you need to collect 300 wood from cutting down branches and trees. With the 300 wood in your inventory, approach the broken bridge on the east side of the beach.
Once the construction is complete, you can access the tidal pool area. You can find a ton of unique items to forage here daily, such as Corals and the valuable Sea Urchins. These are a great way to easily supplement your income early on, as they're relatively consistent. Plus, you don't have to save them for future recipes.
The tidal pool area is filled with forageable items after a storm. Make sure you collect them before they refresh the following day. During the summer, you'll likely find Rainbow Shells here, which can be worth up to 600g.
Plant a Lot of Berries
If you prefer straightforward farming, planting a ton of berries every season is a good bet. All berry plants produce multiple crops per harvest and grow back several days after harvesting. They also don't have to be turned into jams or wines to become highly profitable.
There's a unique berry for each season: strawberries for spring, blueberries for summer, and cranberries for fall. While strawberry seeds are hard to obtain in your first season, maximize the opportunity during summer and fall to plant as many berries as you can on the first day.
Since a single berry plot has multiple harvests per season, make sure you start growing them as early as possible. If you plant them late, you might lose out on one or more harvest cycles. Don't forget to add fertilizer or Speed-Gro right when you plant---you can't add anything to the soil once the crop has already grown.
Like all crops, it takes a lot of energy to tend to these. You should try to upgrade your watering can and build sprinklers as soon as you can.
Start Making Sprinklers
Early in the game, you'll find yourself trying to maximize the number of activities you can do in a day. However, you'll be limited by two things: time and energy. While you can eat food to replenish your energy, there's nothing you can do to recover lost time.
Sprinklers automatically water your crops, so you can spend less time and energy doing that daily. This gives you more time to do other money-making tasks, like fishing and mining. It also allows you to maintain more crops simultaneously, giving you a more significant profit per harvest.
There are three types of sprinklers in Stardew Valley:
- Sprinklers: These can water four adjacent tiles.
- Quality Sprinklers: These can water eight adjacent tiles.
- Iridium Sprinklers: These can water 24 adjacent tiles.
The basic version of a sprinkler is very inefficient, so we recommend you produce Quality Sprinklers when you unlock the recipe instead. To make a Quality Sprinkler, you need to have a level 6 farming skill, as well as an iron and gold bar, and refined quartz.
Improve Your Skills
As you progress in Stardew Valley, your skill levels will increase. When you reach level 5 or 10 in a skill, you select a profession, which is an ability that will grant you special bonuses.
Some professions will raise the shipping price of certain groups of items. For example, when your farming skill reaches level 5, you can decide to be a rancher or a tiller. Ranchers can sell animal products for 20 percent more than their base price, while tillers can sell crops for an additional 10 percent. There are also similar bonuses for raising your levels in mining and fishing.
Stardew Valley is one of our favorite relaxing video games to play. If you haven't tried it yet, check it out. It's available for a wide variety of platforms, including Windows PC, Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, iPhone, iPad, Android, PlayStation Vita, and Linux.