People who say it's easily available for free are the handful of handsome, charming cunts who make up the 20% of men women want to fuck.
There is a treasure trove of statistical data out there thanks to dating sites/apps and escort services that, combined with decades of surveys on the subject of dating and paying for sex from around the world, show prostitution is vastly more common than people think, and quite honestly driven by the demands of how absolutely, brutally difficult getting laid is for most guys.
It's also something that is becoming more common as dating apps make hypergamy amongst women more intense, leading to less stable, happy, long term relationships, combined with a growing number of incels, all topped off with economic hardships. If you include ethots and places like Only Fans, the sex industry is quite possibly the biggest it has ever been, as is it's customer base.
As for how much I've spent, it's either ÂŁ0 or the vast majority of all the money I've ever earned, since I've been with my wife for nearly 20 years now.