I got 64k in a couple of days without using real money. I started small by selling my Gangster Bandana for 4.9k. Then I got a bloody skull and i sold it for 12k. I started small by selling some cheap stuff. And when i got my demon wings, i knew that i could sell it for a good price like 40k. Problem was that i had to continuously reduce the price until it deemed good enough (which it did). It can take time but eventually, with enough patience and hard work, you could end up with lots of TC then you would expect.
Even if you lack QI, that only limits some items. Focus on 128x128 textures, popular 3d items and possibly shiai tokens to trade shiai items. You can charge lots of TC for shiai items such as demon wings, Katana and many more. Joining ingame tourneys held by ES staff or Events can help you to get
Before i got lucky with the amount of TC i had, i didn't know how to save up because my temptation would get over me to buy shit, crappy items. In most cases, i would have less than 500 TC. The old fashioned way of getting tc is by going in tourneys. It can take time... Or betting, even though it's a risky move because you could lose all of your TC in one go.
You can get rich without using real money if you play your cards right
