Maybe there are better usenet services that don't get holes punched in their collections as much, but generally on usenet you get missing episodes over time.
My interpretation of your original post was that you were saying spending $45 a month on this project illustrated that he has a problem.
Is that accurate?
How does the fact that he could be saving money support that?
My interpretation of OPs post is that they felt they had a problem. I assumed that problem was the amount of money/time spent installing and upkeeping those drives.