Breathe man, it can be frustrating to get your head around the rules.
Here's what I can suggest, don't make any bases until you are fully aware and prepared to get them to work, maintaining one is just as difficult as keeping it alive from people who want to do things with it.
As a bit of a dedicated player to disco for this past year, I can say from experience that gaining cash is much easier than is sounds. I suggest teaming up with groups for mining experiences because it's more fun that way. You could try mining gold ore in Dublin, but you'll have to pay a fine if you get caught by the mining companies there I think, you could mine copper ore in Kansas which is only two system trip for the sell off point, I've heard of helium and cobalt ore being viable options too, don't know much about them.
Here's what I did to obtain the credits: I first started out as a helium miner until I moved over to copper ore and started doing businesses for other companies, then I grabbed a hegemon and then started mining for myself, which gave me the credits I need after a bit of time, bought a stork ( 198 million, can buy a 5k cheaper ) and then it was my turn to pay miners while I hauled, and then I ended up here
I used to do copper runs hundreds of times and I've made billions and billions of credits of it, obtaining about approximately 7 billion in total now in ships, 5.5 of it was in copper ore, and this was in just 3-4 months ( Probbably could do better than me at that tbh )
Now about house rules, don't jump the gun. If you like a particular area and want to make a base if you're ready, get to know how that house space works first. Having to remember might get overwhelming but it's basically like reading your average rule book, it'll take time. Disco isn't meant to be easy so you need to get used to these things as they will happen.
