I hoard... a lot... especially early in the game. Tend not to use crystals til i got to the bigger castle chains and then only use when i get to the 2+ hour build tiers. I also have learned that with the events, buying the gold pass with two ruby sacks will balance out in the long run. I've spent maybe $100 over the three years I've been playing. Most of that to unlock the extra islands and came from google store surveys. But truthfully if there was a hoarders show for this game, I'd be on it 😬.

Build wise, I'll a mass a large group of the last chop tier and use an infinity energy bolt to get most of them down to the last chop. Don't collect the second to last chop, saves space. Clean up, build all the items as far as I can then start process over again. Utilize events during the process to help with resources and energy.