Skolia: I've tried playing a few times, and so far it's been a bit frustrating.

I've tried the balanced and long haul types so far and you just seem to run out of resources alarmingly fast (and I'm mining at each location and then having to fight off enemies)...

Granted I may just not have the hang of it; but that's my initial impressions.

FugitiveBjones: It's possible that you're not grabbing the resources your systems actually need.

What difficulty setting are you choosing? Normal shouldn't have you fighting TOO often, but if it feels that way then I'd suggest trying Explorer. You'll see far less combat and can just fly around the galaxy searching for resources :)