Although I admit this won't help if you get hooked on buying lots of pens and bottles of ink, fountain pens are actually less expensive to use, over time, than the cheapest of ballpoints. No one ever thinks about how the cost adds up. It is difficult to compare the two methods exactly, since the traditional measure of a ballpoint's life is how long a line it will write before running out. With fountain pens, every nib is different, and a broad or a wet nib will use a lot more ink than a fine or a dry nib. But you can get some idea by measuring the amount of ink contained in every ballpoint or rollerball refill. For under thirty dollars, you can buy a bottle of good quality fountain pen ink that contains as much ink as nearly a hundred and twenty dollars worth of the cheapest refills available. (At least in Massachusetts.)