Thanks, I was wondering what tk upgrade first but the watercan sounds like it would be the better one, I'll keep a eye on on bdays as well, I was trying get seb to be my dance partner at the event but he was for having none of it an no one else wanted me eitherHonestly it sounds like you're doing well. Things are generally pretty expensive on your first year I find. If you upgrade a tool, I'd say start with the watering can and wait for a day when the TV says tomorrow will be raining.
I normally spend my first year focussing on the community centre bundles, which does mean I'm doing a bit of everything to get them completed. But apart from doing quests from the help board for money, I don't really worry about friendship until the end of the year. Try remember your person's birthday and give them a loved gift, and put something really good into the luau soup as that'll really help your friendship points.
Are there any tricks to the energy with the mine? Apart from food, it seems a lot of energy is wasted just trying to find the ladders to the next level an I need level 40 for one of my quests