Join the biggest, best clan you can and then lean on them for rss, game knowledge and event bonuses.  If possible try to find a clan that is at peace with your kingdom, it makes it easier for a small player to yield rss and raid if they don't have to worry about attacks on the 2 days when there aren't global events.  Try to score at least one point in every clan event, you get the same clan bonus as the person who scores a million points.

And acceppt the fact, that the game is purely a P2W-game (Pay-to-win). You will not win any battle versus someone who's willing to pay realmoney.

There is mostly no point in spending real money. Search a clan, do the clan quests and get free gold. Then "buy" the 30 days VIP with it. Other than that keep it for later, or on emergencies.

You can't win any battle against someone who's willing to spend real money. So don't even think about to waste your hard earned own money to compare with them.