heya gizmo
thats more or less my host's (lunarpages) suggestion, as well. the problem being the current package i'm in is roughly 10 / month, and the next level up (VPS) is 40+.
and, in order to make a smooth transition, i'd have to have them install cpanel, which is another 35 / month, yadda yadda. just seems like a nightmarish kinda scenario.
i have trimmed down some aspects -- cutting a lot of my IIP frontpage and sidebar, making it 10 topics per page instead of 20, last 6 active months instead of all, etc. hopefully that will pull back the dent i'm making in the overall processor for them.
but, the general bit of feedback i'm getting is that, odds are, its just time to move on/up.