>>24747
>Use an incremental backup solution so it doesn't fill up the disk and eat through the server's monthly bandwidth limits
Right, that's what I do - other way isn't feasible with my own network speeds/bandwidth limits...
I usually do it more often than once a month too, but I can't comfortably promise being able to do it every week due to some constraints I have in my current life style.

I really appreciate the donation m(_ _)m

Costs with our provider are a bit higher than that - the internet is not as free as it was back in the 2000s, so we are left with only a handful of reputable service providers, and none of them are offering the market rates. I may look into your GRE tunnel suggestion at some point, but right now things are stable.

As of right now, the ad experiment hasn't even gone on for a week, so we can't predict the income. If it proves unsatisfactory, we may remove them. In any case, I don't want to simultaneously ask for donations and run ads. I really just want to save up enough money to keep the site going for a long time, so I don't have to worry about the site going down if my situation suddenly changes or we get new expenses, as I have no source of income and that won't change any time soon.

I don't want to depend on any single user to help the site stay afloat, not only because it places a expectation on them, but because donations are usually one off events, not recurring.