For me it is not a hobby but a way of life. I always had a tank and it is very little maintenance and not very expensive.
I think that this describes my mentality totally. Simplicity is key. There are so many contraptions and thingies that people get into buying to accessorize. After a while you could have 2-4 various reactors, bottles of compressed gasses and tons of various pumps pushing water in and out of all sorts of things.
Modified berlin method with a skimmer has always worked. I want my fish tank to work, I don't want to have to work my fish tank.
I have always had an aquarium....Since I was just a little guy....I might have been 8 when mom gave me a 10 gallon to fill with critters from the local creek.
My salt "obsession" started with a standard 29 gallon tank and a friend who assured me that I could not duplicate his external overflow box and make it work. I think part of my "Fun" is creating things on the cheap that work through trial and error. (It worked on the first trial run)
Keeping a SW is really no harder than FW. The only aspect that is "Hard" is mixing up water prior to a water change.
Reefkeeping does not require much more work. Get good lights. Keep up with water changes. Grow coral until it dies or covers everything.
Just like a car or any other thing, the more moving parts something has, the greater the chance of failure.....And never spend more than you can afford to lose.