You're doing better than I was at 39, and my cleric was my first char on p99. I did a few "cash" camps to get myself some jboots; gornit in OOT and the spectres in oasis (i had to wait till 44 for these as i needed
https://wiki.project1999.com/Banish_Undead in order to kill them without medding for the last shot.
Agreed on the "ignore what people say" front. You're a cleric - you're going to be mostly broke until you win something decent and sell it (as others have mentioned), or camp something easy for a (long) while. On the specs (just playing a few hours after work) I'd get a few hundred plat and some xp in 2-3 hours after work; if they were open. (you'd be surprised - once people realize you're a cleric they will usually be fine with giving you 1 spawn, since that's all youre going to be able to keep down anyway, lol.) Also, twinks in oasis that forget to bind would offer a few plat for 0% / 50%. Every spell has a purpose... (unless it was written by al'kabor.)
It is possible to solo to 60 as a cleric. It's slow, but sometimes you don't have a few hours to dedicate to a group, or need to get stuff done IRL and then the downtime is useful. Remember, high greens are worth xp as well. If you ever want a suggestion, hit me up in game and I'll tell you what i solo'd at your current level.
-Mcoy