Don't worry about buying gold. Start working your way through the main story quests, find some friends, and consult the wiki on two things you'll need:
- Ranged skills, and how to get them
- Dex skills, and which ones give the most
Do refine first (it's a bitch to do, but worth the time) because it's the only damn skill that requires you to fail later on, so it's good to do before your dex gets high.
Apart from that, I would advise starting off doing a bit of commerce and getting a Fomor Elven Long Bow until you can earn the money to pick up a Demonic or something. Slap +dex/+damage enchants you find onto your gear, rank Light Armour Mastery and use accessories to further boost your defense and protection.
Mabinogi is all about not getting hit. You won't tank, you'll just die. A helpful skill for archers is Barrier Spikes, an alchemy skill that creates a small wall that will block enemies and their ranged attacks. At higher ranks you'll be able to shoot through it and have it reflect their damage back at them.
It's also worthwhile, when you have some gold in hand, to just peruse the shops. Don't know which server you're on, but if it's anything like Ruairi is, ch1 in the Belvast market is the place to look. You might come across a cheap Black Dragon Knight Bow (can't be upgraded, but super high base stats, sometimes sells around 300k) or some +Max Damage totems.