How Many Bells Do You Really Spend in Animal Crossing: New Horizons?

The main feature of Animal Crossing: New Horizons is that it closely simulates real-life living expenses. One aspect that must be mentioned is loans and repayments, which form the core gameplay loop of the title.

For daily expenses, players can earn wealth through trading, gathering, and selling items. However, completing major goals—such as home expansions and interior decoration—requires a large amount of Bells. As ordinary island residents who dream of luxurious homes but lack sufficient funds, many players inevitably turn to borrowing.

That said, home loans are not the only financial burden players face in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. If you want your island community to reach different areas without relying on ladders or vaulting poles, you'll need to invest in bridges and inclines, all of which come directly out of the player's pocket.

Each bridge and incline has multiple design options, with costs ranging from 10,000 to 98,000 Bells for bridges, and 5,000 to 48,000 Bells for inclines. For players aiming to build a carefully designed and aesthetically pleasing island, these infrastructure expenses can quickly add up.

Throughout the game, players repeatedly repay Tom Nook increasingly expensive home loans—only to be offered another similarly sized expansion. As a result, many players end up spending far more Bells than they initially expect just to obtain enough space for DIY projects, furniture collections, and decorative items.

Below is a complete list of every home upgrade available in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, along with the fees charged by Tom Nook, including the most recent storage expansion:

·  First Home Loan – 98,000 Bells

·  Second Home Loan – 198,000 Bells

·  Third Home Loan – 348,000 Bells

·  Fourth Home Loan – 548,000 Bells

·  Fifth Home Loan – 758,000 Bells

·  Sixth Home Loan – 1,248,000 Bells

·  Seventh Home Loan – 2,498,000 Bells

·  Storage Expansion Up-Front Cost – 500,000 Bells

In total, a fully expanded home with maximum storage places a financial burden of 5,696,000 Bells on the player. Once you add the cost of at least one bridge and one incline, the overall spending climbs even higher.

For players who don't want to grind or take on long-term loans, some choose to buy ACNH Bells from third-party marketplaces—like ACItemsBuy—and focus directly on building their dream island.

This inevitably leads to one lingering question shared by many fans:

What does Tom Nook actually do with all the Bells he takes from players?