I must admit that I should've just kept the licence renewed. My fuckup was that I thought it cost $175 for a year but it turns out that that's the purchase price, and the licence is $25 every 6 months which is peanuts, I have no issues paying that at all. The suppotr and documentation provided by the devs is generally very good, as long as you stick to the steps it's very methodical and logical.
I thoroughly enjoy running this place but as described in my PPR life's just been a bit hectic for the last month or two which is why this has been on the back burner.
As for costs, we have one regular contributor who covers half the fees and I cover the other half, that covers the hosting. The licence is on top of that and I'll be spending $30 on a new theme so truth be told the fees are pretty manageable, plus if I nag a bit the community tends to chip in if necessary but at the moment we're going strong