I've seen many new players baffled on how to level and make money in this game,so I've written a quick guide on how to do so in Windhurst.

Leveling:

Levels 1-3:
You'll want to stay close to the castle gates, going after Bumblebees and Tiny Mandragoras. At level 3 you can try some of the easier River Crabs and Rarabs. (Use CHECK before engaging these last 2 monsters and make SURE they are decent challenge or less. Even Match or above is a risky fight.)

Levels 4-6:
River Crabs, Rarabs, and Carrion Crows are your best bet for now. At level 5, you should tear through these pretty quick, but keep at them for now. At 6, you can go for most of the Goblins, and the Crawlers. Crawlers are pretty rough, so remember to CHECK them before fighting, and rest up to full stats.

Levels 7-10:
Goblins and Crawlers are the name of the game here. You can also hit up the Horutoto Ruins with a small group at levels 8+. Shouldn't be too difficult to level in this stage.

After level 10, its time to either solo the Horutoto Ruins, or move on to the adjacent areas.

Money Making:

There are actually a number of ways to make thousands of gil in an hour or two if you know how. At lower levels, fight bumblebees and rarabs, and hope you can get a Rarab Tail. This allows you to complete the Star Onion quest, which will net you a Justice Badge. You can equip it at later levels, or sell it for 600 gil at the auction house. Not a bad haul for level 3 or so. This only works once however.
Your next source of money is CRYSTALS. These can always be obtained, even at level 1! Make SURE to have SIGNET on while hunting (Talk to the guard who has W.W after his name at the gates), or you wont get any crystals. Different monsters drop different crystal elements. Make sure to stack them in your inventory so they don't take up too much space. Once you get a full stack of an element (12) sell it for 300-400 gil at the auction house.
Next source is Land Crab Meat. Each one sells for 248 gil! Very nice eh Simply kill River Crabs, and hope they drop some.
The last decent source of money are Crawlers. These things are the lowbie money making machines in Windhurst. They drop two items, Crawler Calculus, and Crawler Silk. Trade in 3 of either item to recieve 600 gil from a quest NPC! It is better to just use Calculii for this, as the Silk actually sells for 208 gil/per item at some shops, so youll make more money not trading it in.

Misc Tips!

Always have signet on, it helps you and your country.

If you are a Warrior, it is ESSENTIAL that you learn how to utilize PROVOKE. This is one of your key job skills. If you don't know how to use this, most parties later in the game will most likely boot you. Whenever a mage character is attacked in your party, provoke the monster so the mage is not killed. It is as simple as that. The mage is more useful if it isnt running for its life