
I have taken the plunge and bought a plot of land!
I looked at dozens of plots and most were pretty horrible, surrounded by ugly advertising lots or hemmed in by huge buildings. Then I viewed a plot in the Seahorse area of the mainland - a lovely flat plot with ocean views and nice properties nearby - it is perfect for me.
All I have put on it so far is a few trees and flowers and a "beach hut" type single storey house with deck. Now I can go shopping for a nice house to put on it - there are a lot available for free but I have seen one that I really like for 400L$ (less than $2 US) so I think I can afford it!
That's the thing with Second Life - most things are so cheap or even free so anyone who goes there to "make money" needs to be very talented or very patient. It is very simple to make linden dollars by various means (camping etc.) but the amount it pays are TINY. Much easier to make money online OFF of SL (more about this later).