I’ve just saved up 630K! And is getting a hang of avoiding pissing people off.
Another couple of well paying missions and I’ll purchase a heavier ship that can contain a medical bay! As I had a leveled up doctor that have a trait that can allow me to provide medical services to low tech worlds. This may help me gain free reps! Yay!
Stick with it. It’s much deeper than it appears on the surface!
Edit: Once you and your officers have leveled up a fair bit, losing crews is not such a bad deal. Taking conservative choices and staying alive makes your key officers and captain really powerful. Even conservative choices like avoiding combat lets your crew gain XP.