romanyrose1PY I personally have spent zero dollars on Farm Merge Valley, and I am at Level 49. I have only bought things a few times in the store, and I believe it was always rocks or trees that you can buy with coins, not crystals. I check in every few hours to open crates, so it will generate more. I wait patiently for timers to count down, never using crystals to speed things up, as tempting as that might be. I keep an eye out for other ways to get crystals - daily sign in rewards (pogo subscriber), constellations rewards, etc.
Do I have a lot more free time to play than most people, yes. I'm just pointing out that spending real world cash is not the ONLY way to advance in this game.
Edit to add: ALWAYS try to Merge 5, especially for higher level items, and think strategically about what to save and what to dig up to make space.