I think a tiny bit of patience is in order, really. I was strapped for cash when I was trying to save up to buy the Whiterun house at first. Then I dungeon crawled to get all the upgrades. Did the same for the Solitude house. The absolute best perk investment for me has been the speech one to let you sell anything to any vendor. That has cut down the map-hopping considerably. And it brings me pleasure to sell garbage to that snotty clothier lady in Solitude.