Sell fruits, shake trees (sometimes money falls out), Run errands for neighbors, go fishing and sell your fish, Sell your fossils. There are many ways in the game for you to earn money.
Ya, I'd say pick up a Gamecube. But don't get Animal Crossing for your first game. That game is extremely boring after all debt is payed off, there's not really anymore goals.
Yayyy, someone agrees with me. After you pay all your debt... there's not really much more to the game besides waiting for holidays and running errands, and the errands get old REAL REAL Fast.