Yes to all of this, I just have to learn to make more money in the game as it has been a long slow grind just to get my first 120K. I see this just getting better over time and looking forward to even clearer images.
You should try bounty hunting. Look for a resource extraction site near to a station, and just go out there and scan people. If they are wanted, kill them! I traded all the way up to a Cobra using Thrudd's trading tool, but bounty hunting in my first trip made me rich enough to nearly buy another Cobra. I went from being worth around 400,000 to 2.3 mil in a day or two.
I expect the returns are almost as good earlier too.