What can the 'average Joe' start hosting, that will change their life?

Old PC that can be on all the time.

If you dont have one and want dedicated hardware, I would recommend a used server, or something you can whitebox (like using as asrock rack mobo that takes a desktop ryzen but supports ecc memory)

Put proxmox on as the host OS, two ssd's in raid 1 is good for a boot drive / VM storage drive. Raid 10 if you want real high performance, but probably unneeded.

Look for a case that has a SAS backplane, and then connect the backplane to a HBA card. Pass this card through to freenas for storage shares and stuff.

I recommend not virtualizing your router. So, if you want togoet away from Soho gear, either flash a Soho router with openWRT, or build a separate box for pfsense or opnsense. If you go that route, you will need a separate switch / access point. Unifi gear has a good balance of features and affordability, and can all be managed from a single ui (let's say you have 3 switches and 2 access points... You dont need to go to 5 web UI's, its all in one spot - and you can self host the web ui in proxmox)

Get one of them mini PCs that they attach to the backs of monitors at office desks or receptions or whatever. Something like a Lenovo m720q for reference, though there many other similar products from other companies. They can be had for pretty cheap on the used market where they are abundantly available, they're very power efficient (obviously not as efficient as a pi but still pretty damn good), and they're surprisingly powerful for how small they are. I'd actually recommend a machine like that over a raspberry pi. Pis are great when you want the smallest and most low power machine you can get, but at the end of the day it's an ARM based machine with very limited IO. A regular ol' x64 machine with bog standard sata and m.2 ports all inside a neat enclosure is also great.

I've never self hosted, started maybe two years ago. First I've started with a Raspberry Pi 3, but quickly decided that 1GB of ram, and limited power was not enough for my needs. I've got myself a Dell OptiPlex SFF (used), it came with 16GBs of ram, then I've added a 4TB HDD. I'd say, this is an "entry" piece of hardware, as it's cheap and sips power (around 15-20W at idle). If you don't need the disk space or much power, go with a micro (whichever manufacturer you chose, HP, Dell, IBM), they're cute little boxes that make a RasPi seem both underpowered and overpriced (for a used one anyway).

Most of these would run just fine on a Raspberry Pi.

Anything that can run programs and stay on all day. Raspberry Pi's, or their alternatives work great. Any old computer or laptop you have would work too. Or you can get a used PC, or build a new one if you have money to waste.

An old PC uses significantly more power than e.g. a RPI or a NUC. Something to keep in mind.

Old laptop. Has a battery backup, is likely x86, you can always get easy local shell access, and they're really cheap. You can get an old Dell laptop online for next to nothing if you don't already have something lying around. But you or someone you know probably do have one lying around.

You can get yourself a 1L pc from Dell, Lenovo, or HP 8th gen or newer for pretty cheap. Great little work horses. You can find Dell Optiplexes on any second hand sites in your area really cheap too.

But in all reality, the old machine you already have is the best solution. If you got an old computer from an upgrade years ago, that's great to play on

@republicofRAD @jaackf You can leave your own PC on, you can buy new hardware, or you can rent a server. Any of the above is a valid way to run your own services.

A low-end VPS (virtual private server) costs around $5 a month and can run plenty of stuff as long as it's not particularly heavy (no video hosting). Running a website on a VPS is a very common first entry to self-hosting, especially if you don't have stable internet at home.

7th or 8th gen NUC with as much ram as you can stuff in it.