For actual ships, I would suggest (this is for players without money)
use a crappy frigate first, equip with as many Miner I's, or EP-S gaussians and get to a belt, check for rats (you won't be able to fight any with only Mining lasers) and mine until your cargo is full.
ASAP get your races hauler (industrial ships) and do the same, but this time following Mav's advice on jet-can'ing. Next ship on the list is your races destroyer, which should have ample turrets points to allow at least 3 125mm rails (good enough for killing all rats in 0.6+) and then 2 or 3 EP-S's.
Here is the ideal loadout (at least, what works for me

) for the cor

t (caldari) and osprey (caldari again):
cor

t:
4 * 125mm rails (I use Rail I's)
3 * EP-S mining lasers
1 * basic co-proc
1 * small shield booster
then as many cap rechargers you can get (could fit 3 if you have the CPU)
edit: this will give ~247omber/min (148m3/min) depending on your mining skill (and others)
osprey: (bare in mind I haven't actually used this yet, so I'm not sure if the drones will kill the rats)
3 * Miner II's
1 * Assault Missile Launcher
3 * basic co-proc
3 * cap rechargers
1 * med shield booster
3 or 4 * med scout drones
edit: this will give at least 420omber/min (252m3/min), and every level of cruiser will give you 20% (!!!) more
All that will fit on if you put the co-proc's on first, and all the cap rechargers will allow you to recover 305 cap/min