Totally lost (like a chicken)

[Dengero]

So....I just got the game, I did all the tutorials, but the real thing is too hard! Ok I'm portugal in the second scenario. I know how to colonize etc from the tut and I'm doing well with Bermuda/manhattan and azores.
So then...

1. How on earth do you get money? I'm constantly poor and can't get armies ><"
2. With what little I have I did good with it, I joined the war against Brittainy with England, TOOK one of their provinces (yay!). But then England sued for peace and I lost the province! Do I gain anything from the whole deal ><"

I'm lossssssstttttt

[Arto]

1. Use merchants, play with your treasury meter, wage wars etc.
2. The problem is that if you don't lead a war; you can only sue for peace individually (since Brittany lead the war). How to lead a war? Simply just start a war or when you get dragged in a war, make sure that you're the strongest nation in your coalition.

[shikaka]

While colonies seem like a good investment, and basicly they will become one, until for like 150-200 years they just take away money. But after they kick in, they are very profitable.

Generally money comes from traders sent to centers of trade where they can make some profit WHILE staying there for enough time.
Also if you have 500, build a CoT yourself in a seashore province, there your merchants will have increased chances to stay.

I think Spain, England or France is easier to learn with though!

[Sevasti]

I'm playing Magna Mundi but IIRC the basics are the same. If some of my statements differ from vanilla version just disregard them. None of these tips are set in stone but they're good guidelines. Feel free to disagree but please show my faulty logic then, I'm always up for improvement.

You have 2 different kind of incomes, monthly and yearly. Merchants will give you monthly income while things like tax and production will give you a yearly income. As long as your yearly income is higher than your monthly expenses you can count yourself successful. No need to start panicking just because you're losing a little money every month (as long as you don't have to take a loan).

Reducing expenses:
While not in war - lower the slider for your military/navies expenses to a position you feel comfortable with.
If you are converting heretics, you can lower the financial slider for that. Same thing goes for colonies.

Mercenaries are expensive, use only if you must and got money to spare.

Those things can make a lot of difference if you need to cut expenses fast.

Note about Colonies:
While colonies can give you a nice income boost they're a long term investment, they take a while to start paying off and they will slow down your research rate, so colonize wisely.

Merchants:
These guys can give you a nice injection to your monthly budget. Just beware that they're not always lucrative if the competition is fierce. They're a valid option if you got money to spare but don't use them as a last resort.

Raising serious money:
Anything that will add to your tax or production income will give you a higher yearly income. Build so you maximize income from your regions. In other words, put no priority to build something that adds to the regions trade value if it has a low valued commodity. Just look at the highest incomes for each region and build appropriately. After that you can start to experiment.

Don't forget region policies, they have some nice (long lasting) benefits as well.

Also, don't shy away from minting. The biggest con from minting is not so much the higher costs but the lower research budget. As long as you can keep your inflation around 5% you have no real worries (money wise at least).

Last resort:
See Reducing expenses. Also consider disbanding troops and (especially) navies. Cut automatic merchant funding as well. Mint like crazy.

Also:
At the start of the game, mint for a while so you get a nice little sum to play with. None of your neighbours or enemies will care that you got zero inflation when they've got a bigger army than you.

Pay attention to national focus and sliders, they can make all the difference on your budget.

Stability will have a large influence on your incomes. Make it your first priority in any situation that allows for it.

EDIT: Regarding Alliances
As a junior part of a war alliance you don't stand to gain so much. You can get lucky and seal a private deal with the enemy leader but you need to have inflicted serious damage on them and you need to be quick enough so your alliance leader doesn't end the war before.
There's one thing though - if you disregard your allies call for help they won't trust you in the future. It may seem like a small price to pay but trust is hard currency in the diplomatic stage of the game. So don't go and make alliances with anyone willing. Choose a few nations to focus on as allies in different stages of the game and don't think twice about dropping an ally once you have no use for them anymore (or in the foreseeable future).

[Nyxos]

I was wondering, what do you call minting ? + rep btw !

[Sevasti]

The treasury slider in the budget tab. The higher you adjust it, the more monthly income you will get (don't remember if it has a yearly impact as well) but it will add to the inflation and take money from your research ( the sliders above ). It's a neat little balance act you have to keep up and adjust accordingly depending on the circumstances.

And thanks for +

[Scipio Afracanis]

What I have done in my 1st game of Divine Wind with TO is get a Master of Mint adviser so that way when I am trying to stay alive against Poland and Lith I can mint money and keep my monthly expense manageable. Don't have to mint alot, just enough to gain more land, wait for War Exhaustion to go down ect.....

i used to only get MOM when I had inflation, in my infinite wisdom I never thought to grab one and mint with no inflation hit.

When you get to lvl 8 production build all of those building(workshops I think) because they give a +1 tax which is huge over the course of the game. Target lands with high Tax base also.

[shikaka]

What I have done in my 1st game of Divine Wind with TO is get a Master of Mint adviser so that way when I am trying to stay alive against Poland and Lith I can mint money and keep my monthly expense manageable. Don't have to mint alot, just enough to gain more land, wait for War Exhaustion to go down ect.....

My favourite advisor in the beginning was the philosopher

When I had 3 of them, my prestige was always growing, which meant I inherited much bigger countries then myself. (royal marriage + high prestige = inheritance machine)

I think that's why they don't allow same advisors in later (then In Nomine) expansions.