Seems like a lot of justification for being sloppy
Not sure why the author thinks writing clean code is some form of premature optimization.
There's the key phrase
> I haven’t updated that app in years
Arguably, the most important place for clean code is everywhere, but the largest use-case for it is in projects that are expected to live, or in places that the code is seen / used by people who are not the original developer(s).
If your goal is to "ship it and forget it", great. Do whatever you need. Outsource it to some other country if it's cheaper, who cares? You're not going to be maintaining it anyway. Does this make something good? No. Is it excusable? Maybe.