LFGSS survives by donations

Re-pinning to front page for a while.

Unfortunately our largest cost has increased 20% which is shown here https://www.linode.com/blog/linode/akamai_cloud_computing_price_update/

The currency exchange rate has been against us for a while, but that was OK as I could absord minor differences.

I can't sustainably absorb a 20% cost increase though as my mortgage has jumped 35% at the same time. Things are still good for a couple of months, but long-term it doesn't work so well.

Additionally natural attrition of regular donors occurs (payment modes expire, people unsub, etc), so donations gradually go down over time.

So what are our costs now? In the region of about £550 per month today, and as of 1st April they'll be in the region of £640 per month (not all costs are hosting, but even things like domain names are increasing in price, just not as much as the 20% on hosting).

What's the income now? In the region of about £450 per month today (minor variability month to month), and occasional one off larger donations close the gap such that largely I don't mind the difference... but the cost rises mean I mind the difference.

As usual whilst larger one-off donations help a lot, it's the long-term monthly lower donations from more people that offer stability in the income that make it predictable.

This is mostly an appeal for those where a donation expired and you didn't mean to, consider donating again.

Or, if you find value in the site (even just for shits and giggles) and haven't donated and do want to, then set one up.

I still find it easier to think of it like buying the server a beer each month, or a bottle of wine, etc... and considering that the cost of having this place exist and be there when we need it.

The link to donate is in the header nav, or on the home page on the right hand side.

Thanks as always.

Done

Done.

Is there a way to donate without using PayPal?

Thanks for sharing, will increase my monthly donation. A life without the many faces LFGSS would be a lot blander.

Is there a way to donate without using PayPal?

Yes, but it's a bit inconvenient.

It's basically: send money direct to my personal account, and then when I notice it I move the equivalent to PayPal.

I don't like PayPal, but it works. The biggest benefit is that it's a separate pot I can mostly ignore, and it's a business account meaning I've got a Mastercard debit card that pays the bills to the various cloud providers and the money is directly debited from PayPal. So it nicely insulates all this stuff from my personal finances... which is why the inconvenient bit is something I seek to minimise, but if that's what someone wants to do then DM me and if I've met you in real life I'll give you my bank details.

OK, fair enough.

Done. Thanks for all you’re doing here, one of the sites I thoroughly enjoy using and engaging on!

Added a monthly amount - thought I had one before, but hadn't (or maybe it lapsed - dunno?). Thank you!

Small one-off for now. Will try and set up a regular once building works have finished...

Thanks!

A small monthly set up on paypal!

Thanks for keeping it going @Velocio

Updated my monthly amount accordingly. Thanks bossman.

I've bumped up my monthly donation slightly. Thanks for the prompt, David.

Had forgotten - now remedied

Couldn't figure out how to change my donation on PayPal, so I've cancelled and set up a new one for a bit more. Been meaning to do it for a while anyway.

this is a good shout. I have never changed the amount in all the years I have been donating. and the price of beer has certainly gone up.

in PayPal I can change the funding source but not the amount. did you just cancel and redo with the new amount?

just noticed my paypal address for LFGSS is david@buro9.com, is this still relevant? or does in need updated? I send a regular payment on the 3rd of each month from my Yahoo.co.uk account!

Re-set up monthly donation. Thanks for the prompt and for keeping it all going.

Yes, after about ten minutes of increasing frustration at Paypal's lack of user experience nous.

cheers dude. saw mustardbeak hit that too.
will sort it that way now.

just noticed my paypal address for LFGSS is david@buro9.com, is this still relevant? or does in need updated? I send a regular payment on the 3rd of each month from my Yahoo.co.uk account!

It still works, I set up lots of email aliases to ensure none break, the account master one is paypal@david.kitchen but the one it should be configured to is paypal@lfgss.com .

I do see your regular donation from the yahoo email, works perfectly - even though as you say I see that was done back when I used an even older email address.

I've set up a modest monthly donation.
Thank you @Velocio for all the work you put in.

Thanks for the reply, have updated my payments to your latest email address and double the (modest) amount!

cheers for the nudge.

Small monthly donation set up, should have done it years ago. Thanks @Velocio for all you do, provide and enable - essential daily reading!

Monthly donation set up.

Thanks for all the work you do.