Comprehensive Looting of Whiterun

Last nights session has given me cause to re-think the whole training strategy.

The point of it was to make sure that on each level I was heavy with combat increases. Doing too much non combat ranking in skills early makes your character weak in combat. In the early levels, it's very easy to dilute your skills as everything can go up quickly.

Picking up all the free and easy loot in places like the Companions headquarters and the Dragonsreach itself yielded me plenty of gold which allowed me to train in several ranks to up to level 8. I am maxed on level 8 already.

Plates, pots, pretty much anything that I could pick up and on sell was taken. It was picked clean. This is a safeway to gain strength but it counterproductive.

I could easily go out and fight bandits and hunt down creatures without too much risk. I can rank my combat skills pretty easily this way as I'd be constantly using them. I'd hold back on crafting and stockpile things that I've found. This way I'd still be combat heavy on my first 10+ levels, but I'd have not wasted a fortune on training. It's quite expensive and it is tedious picking up junk to sell off. Better to fight and get combat loot, save my money and spend it on better armour and magic items.

Seems obvious now, I'll be level 9 when I level up and I'm obviously much more confident now as I've invested in increased hit points each level so I'm much stronger. Additionally, I'm armed with a good supply of healing potions, have invisibility and paralysis potions. There are a number of basic dungeons nearby which will allow me to clear them out and start gathering ore which I will stockpile for crafting later.

I'm confident I can comfortably reach level 20 without taking on too much risk with fighting. I'll then focus on upgrading my characters armour/items and focus on crafting. Level 20 through to 30 would be strong crafting levels. Of course improved combat through there would also be good.

My main focus at the moment is:
Archery (11 trained ranks in this so far)
Stealth
Speech craft (for the extra money it brings in - the higher I get this early the more it pays).
One Handed (7 trained ranks in this so far)
Heavy Armour
Block

I've also left a number of skill books lying around without using them. For instance, there's one on Smithing at the Skyforge. That can stay there, when my Smithing skill is up around the 80+ mark, that book would be much better to read then, rather than now as it is very easy to gain a rank in Smithing at the moment.

I wish there was a way to pick up skill books without reading them so I could stockpile them.