Oh man, it sounds like we're going down some similar paths, except you're a lot farther

I spent a couple hours last night looking at 3018 machines and weighing whether I wanted to pull the trigger on something inexpensive now or save up for something a little more substantial later. I'm really having to think about the kind of projects I want to do. The 3018's look like they're mostly engraving machines rather than milling, and if you want anything with a router instead of a spindle you automatically jump from ~$250 up to ~$1-2K.

I certainly get the time vs ordering dilemma. I often think "I could just order this and have it in two days so why am I spending days printing this? For me it's mostly down to the customization. The assortment boxes I'm printing will perfectly fit an existing drawer, I can color code them, and I can print the exact selection of boxes I need rather than making a bundle of boxes fit my needs. I've looked at silverware organizers before, but none of them made such efficient use of space as the ones I printed. The modular system I used almost perfectly fits my drawer, and I was able to lay everything out and put it together exactly how I wanted. I love it. Now I'm starting to do other drawers in the kitchen.

Yeah, I'm lucky that my kids are still into the printed stuff I make for them. They even like little generic models, despite having three grandparents who flood them with plastic junk already. TBH, I think they like being able to graft their own imagination onto the things I make for them. It's a good outlet. We'll see how long that lasts, but I'm also making some interesting things for them like marble runs, transforming pumpkin spiders, cookie cutters, and fidget toys. I think those can last a bit. At least for my 3 year old