I have a side job/gig and I use that money to hire, dinning out, theater, all the fun stuff. I don't touch my primary income for that. I usually hire 1/wk but I do mostly masseurs. Escorts not that often.
Regarding... your second concern, for me is more about convenience, to schedule when I need/want than wasting time on grindr. I have a guy that lives a mile away from me! But is a pain to schedule our calendars or actually meet. He's really hot, but our schedules don't match. Same with others that when I set up a hookup with them, they cancel last minute due to family/friends/etc. With escorts/masseurs is different/easier, specially when they are regulars. In my mind is more convenience that thinking if I can have sex without paying, but I have to admit that when I have sex off grindr, it feels strange not paying, haha.
Regaring a LTR, I'm not actively looking. I could say I have 2 guys that are like my boyfriends (but they are not) we spend a lot of time together, one of them sleeps with me 4 nights a week (we rarely have sex nowadays, is more the closeness/affection we have for each other), and the other one sometimes spends the night too. So I have a lot in my plate at the moment I'd say. I'm grateful for all these, I think I'm living the best time of my life (I'm in my early 40s)