Transparency helps. Here's exactly what I pay each month to run two blogs and three side projects.
| Item | Cost/mo | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Domains (3) | $3 | Namecheap, annual divided |
| Vercel | $0 | Free tier |
| Supabase | $0 | Free tier, one project |
| Cursor | $20 | Only paid dev tool |
| Buttondown | $9 | Newsletter |
| Plausible | $9 | Analytics, one site |
| Total | $41 |
What I Cut
Paid Slack, dedicated VPS, multiple SaaS subscriptions I used once. If it doesn't directly help ship or measure, it's gone.
You don't need $500/month in tools to build something people use.