The Poor Newbie's Guide to Lavish Living

introduction

caring for your neopet

1. food: Now we all know that food is a very important key to staying alive. This holds true for your Neopet too. Now, your Neopet can't die, but if you leave it hungry long enough there is a possibility of your pet turning blue or red!! Food for your pet can be expensive, especially if your pet is picky... but hopefully this section of the guide will help you find some cheap or free food.
----free food
1. The Healing Springs. Sometimes a trip to the Healing Springs will fill up your pet... it's a pretty uncommon spell for the Water Faerie, though, so I wouldn't depend on it.
2. Giant Omelette. Every 24 hours, you can approach the giant omelette and take a delicious eggy concoction that will feed your pet three times! And the great thing is that most pets LOVE omelette.
3. Giant Jelly. Hidden somewhere in Neopia, in the mysterious Jelly World there is a giant, jiggling jelly just waiting for hungry Neopians to feast upon its fruity blobbiness. Every 24 hours you can take a FREE piece of jelly that will feed your pet twice! Now I would steer clear of feeding your pet a Poisonous Jelly, but there's a rumor going around that if your pet eats enough Glowing Jelly it could turn Glowing!!
4. The Soup Kitchen. Right outside the Marketplace in Neopia Central, the Soup Faerie has a great little operation going. If you have under 2,000 NP (this includes in the bank and your shop till) then your pets can eat for free and to their heart's content. Be sure to thank the Soup Faerie for her incredible generosity on your way out!
5. The Cocoa Works Kitchen. You can feed each of your pets one delicious, chocolatey snack per day for free! Also, you'll get to have a chat with Snap, Crackle, and Pop!
6. The Cheetos MessyChief Chester House. Feed each of your pets a cheesy treat once per day.
7. The School Faire. Feed your pets daily. You can choose from Peanut Butter Celery, a Fish Sandwich, and a Blueberry Smoothie!
8. Also, don't forget your monthly freebies! Every month TNT (out of the goodness of their hearts) will give each of your pets a random food, and they'll make you 2,000 NP richer!
----cheap food
Cheap food is EVERYWHERE in Neopia... it's not difficult to find at all, although you may want to enlist the help of the Shop Wizard instead of waiting for the food shops to restock.
1. Spooky Foods are usually very cheap, although... your Neopet may not be fond of such things as a Glaring Eye Wrap or an Almost Gummy Rat.
2. The Tombola's booby prizes are free (or bought on the Shop Wizard in the 1-10 NP range), and are usually food items: Baked Beans, Dried Apricots, Musho Mushy Peas, etc.
3. Coltzan's Shrine also occasionally will give your pet some food, and the same food can also be purchased using the Shop Wizard in the 1-50 NP range. These foods include the Bagguss, Sutek Muffin, Mummified Pepper, Ummagine, and many many more.
----gourmet club?
If you're on a budget then I would suggest not worrying about the Gourmet Club right now... if you feel left out of the Gourmet Club action, why not play a couple rounds of Gourmet Club Bowls? Once you are rolling in the dough, you'll have plenty of time (and resources necessary) to feed your pet rare and exotic foods.

2. fun: Neopets love to have fun, and contrary to what you may believe... giving your Neopet the time of his or her life can be very easy and inexpensive!
----fun activities to do with your pet
1. For a mere 50 NP, you can give your Neopet a ride on the Roo Island Merry-Go-Round, an instant pepper-upper!
2. And for another 50 NP, why not take your pet on a Tiki Tour? This exciting, first-hand look at Mystery Island and all its surprises is sure to cheer your pet right up!
----cheap/free toys
1. Weltrude's Toy Chest in Petpet Park will give you a free toy or book every day! Now if that isn't a great deal, nothing is!
2. From the Wheel of Misfortune (50 NP a go), you could win a broken or rejected plushie that could really use some TLC from a great Neopet.
3. Also, you can purchase toys at very low prices using the Shop Wizard. I would suggest the following: keyrings, basic Neopet plushies, and balloons.

3. pet-pets: Your pet would just adore having its own pet to take care of and play with, but most pet-pets come at a hefty price. The following is a list of cheap petpets (approx. 2k or less using Shop Wizard) that are looking for pets.
----Abominable Snowball, Altachuck, Carma, Fangy, Greeble, Mallard, Melvie, Mibblie, Pikis, Quetzal, Rashpid, Scarabug, Selket, Snarhook, Spyder, Stego, Uniocto, Wadjet. All of these pet-pets have also won the PPL award!
For a more complete list of cheap pet-pets, please visit Starlite4609's petpage.
4. appearance: Everyone knows that the sign of an incredibly well-off Neopian is having beautifully painted pets... except you would consider yourself a loving owner, wouldn't you? Maybe a little short on the Neopoints from time-to-time, and certainly not rich enough to afford ridiculously overpriced paint brushes... however, this is no reason for your pets to look plain. With the introduction of wearable items, backgrounds, and trinkets, your pet can look like a million bucks!
----paint brushes/lab map?
1. Paint brushes are expensive. Very very very expensive. If you are saving up for one, then I wish you luck and I hope you're blessed with a random event in which you find your paint brush of choice on the floor. The same goes for the lab map. In the mean time, there are other ways to have a snazzy looking Neopet.
----cheap backgrounds: Backgrounds. Giving your Neopet his/her own environment. When choosing a background for your pet, play off of his/her color and personality. Cheaper backgrounds generally run about 1k, but they are very pretty and really enhance your Neopets appearance.
----cheap wearables: Wearables. Now these are a bit pricier... but still waaaay cheaper and easier to attain than paint brushes. You can still find some pretty cheap wearables at the Second-Hand Shoppe (be quick!) and also some wearable Advent Calendar items can be purchased at fairly reasonable prices using the Shop Wizard.
----For a complete list of wearables, check out Echoh's petpage.

5. intelligence: Seeing the word 'GENIUS' when you look at your pet's stats is sure to make your heart swell with joy... but how is that attainable, with books as expensive as they are??
----free books: Weltrude's Toy Chest will sometimes give you a free book. Also, a book should have come included in your Newbie Pack.
----cheap books: Cheap books include Neopian Times Issue 3, Waterlogged Book, Learning Social Skills, The Kougra Paw, and a significant number of Booktastic Books. For a more complete list of cheap books please check out Sokemis' petpage.

6. battledome: The Battledome! Excitement! Explosions! ... snowballs? The Battledome is really fun and it's easy to get hooked... and the best part? It doesn't really take as much NP as you may think it does!
----training
1. Your pets can get free training from The Academy on Krawk Island on Neopets' birthday (in November) and also on your pets' day. (Check neopets.com/calendar) You should take advantage of these days because normally training is very expensive!!
----cheap battledome equipment
1. There are many cheap items that can help your Neopet immensely when they are in battle, and here are just a few:
1. Healing: Bronze Scorchstone
2. Defense: Stone Shield, Large Metal Shield
3. Attack: Immense Rubber Axe of Doom, Altadorian Initiate Sword, Coltzans Gem
4. There are many, many more inexpensive Battledome items, and I haven't even gone into freezing or exploding items. So please, feel free to look around garmfry's petpage for a wealth of Battledome tips and tricks!

7. getting sick: It's a fact of life... we all get sick. The sad thing about your Neopets, though, is that there is no insurance to help cover the cost of curing your pets. It's all out-of-pocket. However, there are ways of healing your pet quickly without breaking the bank.
----The Healing Springs. It may take a few tries, but eventually the Water Faerie will cast a spell that will cure your pet of whatever disease ails him/her. And since you can visit the springs every half-hour, it shouldn't take too terribly long.
----Your guild. Many guilds offer no-cost pharmacies to their active members. Simply neomail whoever is in charge of your guild's pharmacy, and they will send you the cure for free! Great, huh?

freebies
1. tombola
2. deserted tomb
3. coltzan's shrine
4. fruit machine
5. qasalan expellibox
6. meteor crash site 725-ZX
7. weltrude's toy chest
8. shenkuu lunar temple
9. rich slorg
10. symol hole
11. underwater fishing
12. turmaculus
13. wise old king
14. grumpy old king
15. giant omelette
16. giant jelly
17. monthly freebies
18. healing springs
19. advent calendar
20. wheel of slime
21. the money tree
22. the meridell rubbish dump
23. the second-hand shoppe

not-so-freebies
1. altador plot prizes - Only if you completed the Altador Plot can you receive a daily item from the Hall of Heroes.
2. scratchcards - If you're broke, then it's probably not a wise idea. The chances of winning are slim to none.
3. lab ray - About 1mil NP for the complete map, so prepare to save up for a long time if you're after it.
4. buried treasure - Only 150 NP per guess during the month of November, but normally 300 NP. Don't waste too much NP on this game, chances of winning are slim to none.
5. test your strength - 100 NP per try. Can win Spooky Food or Neopoints from the lower end, very nice prizes if you get a good score.
6. wheel of excitement - 150 NP per try. A question mark means less than 100 NP, 'secret item' is a fancy way of saying nothing happens.
7. wheel of knowledge - 500 NP. Usually not worth the NP.
8. wheel of mediocrity - 50 NP... it's only 50 NP, so why not?
9. wheel of misfortune - 50 NP. If the name didn't tip you off... the prizes aren't too great.
10. wheel of monotony - 100 NP. Takes a long, lonnnng time, but the prizes are usually pretty good. Visit AmaterasuChan's petpage for Wheel of Monotony help.
11. deadly dice - Can only be played between 12 AM -1 AM NST... there's a fifty percent chance your pet could gain a level, but there's also a 50 percent chance it could lose a level. Not worth the gamble if your active pet has a low level.
12. bagatelle - 250 NP. Play if you've got NP to spare, sometimes you can win a pretty nice prize.
13. cork gun gallery - 150 NP for one shot. Not worth the money usually, as the items are VERY hard to knock down.
14. coconut shy - 100 NP. Fairly easy as far as Deserted Fairground games go, but you can spend a lot of NP on this game without realizing it. Only play if you've got NP to spare.

quests
1. Brain Tree Quests - To complete a Brain Tree Quest you must complete two Esophagor quests in the time limit the Brain Tree gives you. Esophagor quests are usually cheap, and Brain Tree quest prizes are okay. I wouldn't spend over 3k on a Brain Tree quest.
2. Esophagor Quests - Only do Esophagor quests if you are looking for Brain Tree quest answers... his prizes are typically cheap Spooky Food.
3. Edna's Quests - Not very good prizes. Don't spend over 1k.
4. Kitchen Quests - Can raise your pet's Battledome stats, but tend to be very expensive.
5. Snow Faerie Quests - Pretty good prizes, but I don't suggest spending over 3k on one of Taelia's quests.
6. Faerie Quests - Via random events. You are not allowed to use the Shop Wizard, so go to the Neoboards for help. All of the Faeries reward your pets with a stat increase, except for the Earth Faerie: she makes your pets full.
7. Illusen's Quest - Her quest can get expensive, but can get a trophy and some great BD items if you complete it!
8. Jhudora's Quest - Like Illusen, her quest is pretty pricey after a while, but eventually you will reap the rewards!

caring for yourself

1. making NP: One of the most fun aspects of Neopets is making Neopoints (and then spending them on awesome stuff!), but it is also one of the most challenging aspects. The following are just a few tips to making and saving Neopoints.
----open a bank account: The bank is a vital tool. I'd say once you make your first 10k it's time to put some of that money in the bank. You can start collecting interest and also keep your NP in a protected place.
----open shop: A shop costs 150 NP to open, and can hold 5 items to begin with. The shop is a valuable tool in making Neopoints, but remember to always price your items according to the Shop Wizard.
----invest in the stock market: The Neopian stock market can make you too rich too handle if you're patient enough! There's a lot of information to cover when explaining the stock market, so if you're interested why not check out dogooderneoneo's petpage?
----play the featured game: It's double the NP for your sent scores... so don't worry too much if you're not good at the game, you're still getting double the NP. :)
----play your favorite games: I'm not going to tell you to get a certain score on certain games this many times per day... all I'm going to tell you is to play the games that you enjoy and are good at, and get the NP from those! The more you play them, the better you'll get... and who knows? You may end up on the hi-score table with a shiny new trophy for your lookup!

2. avatar collecting
----easy avatars: If you're looking to start your avatar collection, I'd suggest getting all of the "one-click" avatars first. All you need to to do gain these avatars is go to a certain page and... voila! A shiny new avatar for your collection. You can get lots of avatars this way, and it's a great way to jumpstart your collection.
----expensive avatars: However, there are some avatars that are very hard to obtain... and they can get expensive too. For example, for the Packrat avatar you need to have 1,000 unique items in your Safety Deposit Box. So before you start after those avatars, be sure you have the time and resources necessary.
----avatar lending: Some guilds offer a service called avatar lending, where they will lend you a certain item in order for you to get an avatar. You must offer a collateral payment to the owner of the item just incase something happens to the item or you don't return it. This is an invaluable way to save lots of NP and still get those lovely, hard-to-obtain avatars!
----For a complete list of avatars and how to obtain them, check out The_Pet_Eater's petpage!

3. gallery
----picking a theme: The first step to creating your gallery is to pick a theme. The options really are endless, as items can be grouped by color, type, where they're from, title, etc. For example, I'm collecting musical instruments for my gallery.
----collecting items: To start your gallery I'd suggest going to an item database and looking for cheap items that match your theme. Go ahead and buy the cheap ones and get your gallery started, then you can add on as you are able to spend more on gallery items!
----For an indepth gallery guide, visit PeepPeep04's petpage.

4. neoboards
----etiquette: It's always a good idea to be polite, especially to your fellow Neopians. After all, every Neopian is just trying to enjoy the time they spend playing Neopets. For an in-depth guide to Neoboard etiquette, please check out Cultured's petpage.

5. trophies
----easy trophies: Ah, trophies. Shiny badges of honor for you user lookup page... don't you get sick of seeing users with 20+ trophies and being overcome with jealousy?? Well you don't have to be jealous anymore, because there are a number of very easy to obtain trophies around Neopia just waiting to be won!
1. Cheat!
2. Snow Wars
3. Beat Punchbag Bob
4. Plot Trophies
5. Defenders of Neopia
6. ... and many, many more! For a full guide to easy trophies, visit garmfire's petpage.

6. competitions
----easy competitions: There are a number of competitions that aren't really too hard and that you should always enter because you MIGHT win!
1. Caption Contest
2. Mystery Pic
3. Random Contest
----difficult competitions
1. There are some more difficult competitions such as Better Than You, Lenny Conundrum, etc... however, talentless people like me tend to steer clear of such things. ;D
----spotlights
1. Got a great lookup, petpage, or gallery?? Then submit it to TNT for a chance to win the spotlight!

7. your guild
----choosing a guild: A guild can be a great thing. It can be your support system, your Neopian social network, and a way for you to gain valuable knowledge about Neopets. Most people are looking for an active guild with lots of activities and friendly, welcoming members, and also some nice priveleges and perks for the active members. However, guilds that great are few and far between and if you find one, you should cherish it and give back to your guild.
----staying active: One of the biggest problems guilds have is keeping members active. What is the use of a 200 member guild if none of the members are active? Active members make money for the guild, they advertise, they recruit, and they keep the guild atmosphere one that is enjoyable and exciting. If you join a guild then it's your duty to remain active.

8. Your Neohome
----If you're just getting started and don't have much money, I wouldn't suggest worrying about a Neohome right now. But I will help you decide whether you'd like a new Neohome or a classic Neohome... as of right now, classic Neohomes have a much wider variety of items available, but TNT is working on converting classic Neohome items to be compatible with new Neohomes. Also, classic Neohomes cost NP to build, and you are charged for every room you add. However, if your internet connection is slow or unstable I'd suggest sticking with classic Neohomes for now. 9. not getting frozen/scammed
----The number one rule to avoid being scammed or frozen is to follow the rules!!! TNT made these rules for a reason: to keep the game fair and balanced and give everyone an equal shot. If you create a side account, make sure you understand the rules concerning side (or "mule") accounts. NEVER give out your password and put a pin number on everything! For a more in-depth guide to avoiding being hacked/frozen, check out CarpeDeum's petpage.

caring for the community
1. donations
----donate junk items: Now, as a poor newbie, you probably don't think that you can afford to donate items. However... that's definitely not the case. What about all those junk items from the Ol' Fishing Vortex that will only sell for 1 NP? Those don't really bring you much profit, so why try to sell them?
----And remember, in Neopets and in all things, what goes around, comes around. If you are good to others, others will be good to you. It may not be programmed into the Neopets servers, but trust me on this one.

2. neoboards
----help out with faerie quests: I mentioned earlier that when you're on a Faerie Quest you're not allowed to use the Shop Wizard.... so, when on Faerie Quests, most Neopians turn to the users of the Neoboards for help. And, it's a very nice thing to go out of your way to look up an item for someone... after all, you'll be in their place one day and hoping someone will be gracious enough to look up an item for you.
3. your guild/friends
----donate to your guild: If you're in a great guild, then I'm willing to bet that your guild has given you items or NP or tips more than once... the guild needs money to do this, and it's only right to donate.
----take care of your friends: I have a friend who gave my a piece of the lab map worth 100k out of the goodness of her heart, and right now I am saving up NP to buy her a gift that will knock her socks off. It's only right, and everyone loves to be surprised with an item from one of their friends.
----advertise, advertise, advertise!: If you're like most people, you found your guild through an advertisement or through a member of the guild doing some recruiting... so go out and spread the word about your guild! Recruit, advertise, and get those new members! Remember, the more active members your guild has the more it will be able to accomplish!!
4. adoptions
----try to adopt some pets instead of creating all of them: look at the pound for Neopets who need homes! I adopted 2 of my 4 pets from the Neopian pound... and both of them were very lucky finds: a Starry Bruce on level 15, and a red Uni on level 26. Being abandoned is a horrible experience for a Neopet, but they can still be happy and successful if a great owner adopts them!

shameless advertisements
1. Toxic!
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4. How to Play Neopets and Retain Your Kickin' Rep
5. The Lost Desert Pet Shoppe
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other great neopets help sites
ChaiBunneh's Petpage Directory

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