As webmasters sometimes we manage to start things without a budget, and move our way up as our websites grow. So, who here has started websites with no true budget?
When I started AdminBB I had no budget, I just thought it wouldn't be much to run, but I have spend a great amount of money into it since then.
I don't think a budget is needed, it's all about how much time you spend posting to keep it active, and how much you advertise it as I successfully launched a great forum that hit a few thousand posts within a month or so...
My wife and I make good money, I have no budget when it comes to what I want to spend on my forum. If I felt like it I could spend $3oo+ a month on my forum and it would not effect us. But right now I do not think its worth spending $300+ a month on my forum until it starts showing some potential.
The first one I started I had a $2.50/month hosting plan. That was my budget (aside from the domain name). Over time that grew with "professional" software and a VPS server. Then I had to make adjustments to cover the higher bills associated with an active forum.
I started my big board with a budget, but none of it used. I've invested none of my own funds into it, excluding domain and hosting costs of course.
I don't tend to really have a budget as I'm starting up. I buy everything my site needs as it needs it - be that hosting or whatever. The best thing is that I'm mostly able to provide everything I need for myself - I can design themes and I can code plugins.
