For self-hosters

A boring checklist for homelab costs that quietly grow.

Start with the always-on cost: watts x 24 x 30 / 1000 = monthly kWh. Multiply that by your electricity rate, then compare the cost to actual use.

Review these buckets

• Always-on power draw
• Cloud VPS and backup storage
• Domains, DNS, and monitoring tools
• Streaming/media subscriptions
• AI/API spend caps