Still making nice money on pure submitting. 4.5-5k gross during summer. This month I am lucky if I reach 4k
Costs: 1-1.5k monthly, hosting and passes.
I would never recommend anyone to start submitting. If you have no skills already, you will fail and/or lose motivation lightning fast.
About CS: I use this tool and I am happy with it. You have to disable 80% of the sites in it [I checked my stats after half year of serious submitting and disbled those who never sent significant traffic/sales] that is 100% true.