Become a Friend of Debt Free Fanatics

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From Greebo's 1/25/16 post:

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What does it cost to run Debt Free Fanatics?

Our costs have gone up some since the last time I posted this information, but not by much. Our main expense, the website itself, is now roughly $50/month. Other expenses are annual and average around $15/month. So we don't need a LOT of people to help chip in, really, we don't!

Our annual expense list includes Domain Name Registration, SSL certification (for security), and registration on Google Play and the Apple Store to publish our mobile apps.

We also occasionally experience one time costs for enhancements to the system, such as buying the donation system itself. Wherever possible, I try to buy lifetime support options, because long term those are the most cost effective.

What do you do with the extra money?

My goal is to have at least a years worth of operating expenses in reserve, all the time. You all have made that an easy objective to hit, since right now we have about $1,700 sitting in DFF's bank account. (I TOLD you we don't need a lot of help!)

Aha! I must have been remembering Greebo's goal for at least a year's worth of operating expenses in reserve all the time. Looks like we're down way below that.


ETA: I just sent a donation for a year. Since I don't do recurring withdrawals I do need a reminder when it is time again. Also, I don't see an option to send a larger donation.

ETA #2: I re-read Greebo's original post and see that as of 1/25/16 (about 4 years ago) the monthly cost to run the site was around $50.00 and there were additional annual costs averaging $15 a month (so the additional annual costs as of then were about $15 x 12 = $180.)

So the monthly cost to run the site as of 1/25/16 was about $50 plus about $15 = $65 a month. Which is about $65 x 12 = $780.

I would be surprised if the cost hasn't increased.
@lexnaturalis if you are using 1/25/16 monthly cost figures and are not accounting for additional annual costs, and if there are any increase in operating costs since 4 years ago, the $50 monthly number is low. I think there should be a running balance in the account of at least a year's expenses. As of now we are running a deficit compared to what Greebo was saying 4 years ago would be optimal to have in the account.

I think we need to raise funds to the point that we bring up the balance to at least the total annual expense and that we generate enough from donations to keep the balance at that amount.

If the donations aren't coming in from monthly scheduled contributions then people like me (very willing to contribute regularly, but don't do automatic withdrawals from my account) - need to contribute regularly, maybe quarterly. But I don't typically know what we need and when.

In any case, it looks like the balance is well below optimal.