@codinghorror was most-likely implying that a 10 or 30 dollar VPS bill (per month) can be wheedled down to five dollars as of right now with proper monetizing strategies.
Technology always matures and becomes more inexpensive. In due time it will probably run for five dollars a month for what the average VPS has in features that (for now) costs 10-30 dollars a month.
To keep on topic: I plan on using Something Awful’s strategy in having a user pay a certain amount as a ‘tax’ upon entry (one-time fee). I already spoke about this with my regulars and they all agree to it, even helping by offering money and sponsoring new members that way.