> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://birchtree.me/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # I saved over $300 by cleaning up my custom domains - URL: https://birchtree.me/blog/i-saved-over-300-by-cleaning-up-my-custom-domains/ - Published: 2023-07-03T21:00:18.000Z - Updated: 2023-07-03T22:34:17.000Z - Author: Matt Birchler - Tags: meta, #Import 2025-03-29 19:29 Over the years I've accumulated a bunch of digital assets, and while most of those are things that I can keep using (effectively) forever, some of them keep costing me money whether I'm using them or not. A big category for me (and maybe you if you're anything like me) are domains and web servers that run little services. They don't cost a ton on their own, but they add up, so today I went through my domains and servers and decided what stays and what goes. ## Domains - `birchtree.me` obviously lives on, and it's the only domain on this list I fully expect to own for my whole life if I can. - `quickbinlookup.com` is low-key my most successful side hustle but I don't really talk about it. Google for "BIN lookup" and it's going to be one of the first results (if not *the* first one). - `birchtree.blog` **is getting retired.** Apparently it's used by my micro.blog account that I haven't used in years. This will expire in May 2024. - `mattbirchler.com` is sticking around, but I'm redirecting it (see servers section). Apparently I'm also using this for [my Bluesky verification](https://bsky.app/profile/mattbirchler.com?ref=birchtree.me), so I guess I should keep it for that too...just in case. - `abetterghost.com` **is getting retired.** This was a site I made when I just began doing YouTube and thought a series of videos about self-hosting Ghost would be a good series, and a Ghost blog to send people to would be nice as well. Turns out that's not what I want to maintain, so the videos are now unlisted and the site is down as of today. - `birchtree.xyz` **is getting retired.** This was what I used for my newsletter email domain, but I don't do the newsletter anymore and don't plan on doing it anytime soon. - `quickreviews.app` sticks around as I still use this webpage every week, and a small, but growing number of other people do as well. - `mattisntfeeling.social` **is getting retired** and was never used. I bought this before realizing that the below domain was better for my Mastodon server. - `isfeeling.social` is my Mastodon server name, so it's sticking around. All in all, that's: - 5 domains sticking around, costing $112/year in renewal fees - 4 domains going away, saving me $99 per year in renewal fees Cutting my domain renewal costs nearly in half feels pretty great. ## Servers I run all my web servers on DigitalOcean, which I think has a great mix of pricing, performance, and UIs for managing things. This list will line up relatively well with the domains section above, but is a bit shorter. - Birchtree will carry on, of course - Quick BIN Lookup will also carry on - Quick Reviews will as well - My custom portfolio site is migrating to an [OMG.LOL page](https://mattbirchler.omg.lol/?ref=birchtree.me) (mattbirchler.com will redirect there soon) and the server will be killed as soon as I do the DNS updates - A Better Ghost is gone In terms of cost, we've gotta switch to monthly: - Birchtree and the 2 "Quick" sites combined cost $27/month - The two servers removed save me $20/month - OMG.LOL costs about $1.66/month Overall, that's $18.34 saved per month. ## Overall Cost Benefits Our final numbers are pretty amazing for just a few minute's work (this blog post took longer to do than making these changes) **I'm saving myself $319 over the course of the year**. That's not "change my life" money, but it's not nothing, and it's the same as cancelling like 3 streaming services, which ain't bad. If you've got a bunch of domains or little servers that you've accumulated over the years, it might be a good idea to check on them and see which are still worth your investment.