Okay, I will play. Short answer: Yup.
I have been at it for two or three years, can't remember. One of the cartridges I reload is 357 mag. I think a 100 rounds would cost $50 or $60 at the store. I do it for about $14. I have reloaded at least 4000 rounds of 357. That there paid for all my equipment and then some.
As for time. I bet those of you who do not reload kill an hour easy going to the store poking around and going back home. I see you at the register. You usually buy 100 rounds or so of ammo at a time. In that hour or so I have loaded 450 rounds of ammo. We can call time a wash. But I bet reloaders come out ahead.
It is a ton of fun and I consider it part of the shooting experience. It's like hunting. I cannot imagine taking my deer to a butcher. Butchering an animal is part of the experience. You scout, you practice, you hunt, you kill, you butcher. I would feel like I am missing out now if I were to start purchasing ammo.
Load development. I am just getting into this with my new 308. I purchased a chrono, but have not used it yet. Right now I am playing around with bullet COAL and powder charges. I can't wait to really get into it, but right now any free time is spent 25 feet up in a tree with a bow.
I can't wait to chrono my handguns loads as well. I always loaded 357mag for full power. But my other loads, 9mm and 38sp were always comfortable loads. I have no idea if they are getting any decent velocity, or if they are very accurate. I will soon though.
Do you save money? No possible way. You will produce too many cartridges to save money. You will shoot ten times more than if you purchased ammo. You will be on this site in the reloading section to see who found the latest discounted powder or bullets. Then you buy in bulk. You will have 100,000 pieces of brass that you will just have to load. It goes on and on and on. Oh, then you will buy more guns because you will not be worried about ammo cost.
Then there are the ammo shortages that can pop up over time. Reloaders just laugh at shortages.
Pete