I run a forum much smaller than this and it's NOT cheap. There are NO ads on this site, to have an ad-free site costs $$. We have the ability to post attachments here. That also costs $$.

These things may not cost a lot individually, but if the fees are monthly (like they are on MY site), there is definitely costs involved that one may not have thought about.

I DO hope that life for Ben starts to settle down and that he can find his way back to his forum (and business). I've learned so much here and would hate to see it flounder into oblivion.