When I started reloading (in the late 1980s) it was because I wanted to shoot more, and was interested in making my own because it seemed like challenging fun. And it was. Another journey in life, starting with research, shopping, assembling the gear, buying components, etc.
In terms of economics, I calculated -- way back then -- that I could "earn" about $70/hour loading .44 special and magnum rounds, on my progressive setup, compared to buying them new. That was a LOT of money back then, and is still a handsome wage if you look at it that way. The cost savings on 9mm, 40, and .45 ACP was not as much, but I loaded for all of them. Back then, at a legendary (to SF Bay Area denizens) gun store in San Leandro. you could buy 1k rounds of 9mm (Fiocchi, for example) on sale for $159. 1k rounds of .223/5.56 (IMI, for example) for $199. Ah, the good ol' days!
I quickly learned the value of brass. At the ranges I frequented, the protocol at one was never pick up brass that wasn't your own (because the rangemaster did, and then sold it to augment his miserable situation, that grouchy SOB, who alienated so many visitors with his rude/belligerent and sometimes drunk rants.) At another (indoors) the rangemasters appreciated that some of us wanted to gather brass, because then they had less to do to close shop for the night. There was one gent that always showed up with his adult daughter, got her situated and shooting in a lane, and then spent his time gathering brass. (I needed to remind him a couple of times not to pick up mine, ha ha.)
Anyway, when I am discussing the reloading option with new shooters or those who lament the cost of factory ammo, I use this example: Imagine that your pistol/rifle is ejecting a nickel, dime, quarter, or dollar every time the action cycles. Would you leave that money on the ground?
Some people with enough disposable income don't bother contemplating alternatives that occur to the rest of us. Like reloading ammo, or making our own coffee instead of going to Starbucks, or collecting credit card points to offset the cost of travel, or negotiating the price of a new vehicle so strenuously that one time the sales manager asked you to leave. That's their prerogative. And other people do engage in the (admittedly simplistic) alternatives described. I understand both approaches, but practice the latter.
On a tangent: airguns and archery. Hugely fun alternatives. You can buy five thousand .177 pellets for about $80 plus shipping. You don't need ear protection, and even Ariana Grande wouldn't flinch under the recoil.
