@ElectricDryad If I hadn't literally just picked up my own excellent domain at ursa.solar then I absolutely would.

If the hosting costs are the main problem and getting them lower would help, perhaps Pleroma or Misskey would be more suitable? I'm not very familiar with them myself, I just know they're broadly compatible within the Fediverse and are supposed to be much more light weight and resource friendly than Mastodon is.

@ElectricDryad This is really funny to me because I've been sitting here for the last few days thinking "I should make my own instance..."

Unfortunately I'm not good at heeding warnings.

Also, the host I'm on right now is planning to go down for a considerable amount of time for a complete revamp of the site, and I need something to do in the meantime.