Yeah, I think you are right on all the guesses you made on your questions to me. If I could afford more bonsai pots I would have them all transplanted into bonsai pots as soon as I photograph them. I think viewers appreciate that I show things in the early stages though, along with mistakes that I make and learn from.

New cuttings I turn into trees, like this one, I usually train longer in a deeper pot so the roots have more protection around them for the first few years of development.

One thing I might try to save on costs, is to try a suggestion from someone from my bonsai club. They said you can make your own bonsai pot cheaply by getting the large 10 gallon plastic pots, and use hefty scissors make the pot less tall. The really cheap ones used by a nursery to grow full sized trees are already the the perfect width. That would work really well for some my trees that form vine-line roots like this one.

Thank you @steamdan for all of the comments you contribute with your insights. It is nice of you to go back and look through my older posts to find information that might be helpful. Here is a post I made a long time ago you might enjoy: How I plant a tree into a bonsai pot. Only big mistake you may notice, is the wires I used to attach the tree to the pot were put in backwards. It is best to have the wires twisted together from underneath the pot, rather than showing on top. Oops.