I did most of my quests in Freeport, then betrayed to Qeynos to become a Paladin, so I am not familiar with the early quests and which give good armor.
I can assuredly atest to what the previous posters have said, enemy loot is the way to go. I am a part time crafter and I have made some okay money doing it and I have heard that some full time crafters can make a lot, but most of my money has come from enemy loot and selling it on the market.
Tip: Find a mob that drops chests fairly consistently and farm them. Named mobs are always a good source, but please be courteous of others if you choose to kill nameds that are linked to quests and check if anyone is hunting them. Even if they are, it could still be a good opportunity to join them and share in the rewards.
The best loot, thus far, is the Adept 1 spells. I made most of my money in the early levels selling them. Don't be greedy, look on the market for what they are selling for, and list yours for less. On my server, most Adept 1 spells go for at least 25 silver (more common) to 4 gold (less common and high demand).
If you have patience and want to try tradeskilling, I highly recommend harvesting nodes in between battles and while healing. In the past week alone, I have found 2 Rough Corals. The first sold quickly for 10 gold and the second sold last night for 12 gold.
I am not a power gamer or a heavy farmer. I'm lucky to play for a few hours each day, but by doing the things I mentioned above, I now have more money than I know what to do with. Since quests continue to give out great armor and weapons, I doubt I will have to spend much on upgrading. Which brings me back to the original topic question...
Keep doing the quests and without major spoilers and researching everything on the internet, just keep doing quests. Some will be lousy rewards, some will be good, and more importantly, some quests will open up higher level quests that have great rewards. If you keep doing quests though, you should be able to outfit yourself with some decent gear. Good luck!