I finally made my way up to Solitude today (after 60 hours of play), and I'm now trying to save up the money for a house there plus all the improvements. The house is 25,000 and the improvements are 11,000. So I need 36,000 gold total, and I'm at 27,000 currently.
I would help if I hadn't just invested like 15,000 into my new house in Markarth yesterday, only to find out that the best house is in Solitude, lol. Plus my housecarl in Markarth is a dude, and I don't want him around my wife all day.
I can't believe I've been playing the game this long and I still haven't been to Falkreath, Morthal, or Dawnstar, and I've barely explored the Rift. The only major questline I've completed is the Companions (I think I'm fairly far into the College of Winterhold though). So much stuff in this game.
edit: Also, this PS3 framerate is getting ridiculously bad.