sneaking in skyrim seems a lot easier than in previous iterations to me
I think it depends on your difficulty (as well as all the environmental and character stuff)
because I was having trouble sneaking around ash spawn on adept, so I switched to novice, and I could stand right in front of one and walk around without an issue
Luckily, I'm constantly finding gold in dungeons and raids, sooo...
my major source of income is and always has been selling the stuff I find, rather than the gold I find itself
not that I really need a source of income, at this point