Not frugal at all.
Flying drones isn’t a cheap hobby or a low-cost business starter. 
Buying and maintaining a drone is way cheaper than owning a helicopter. 
It’s frugal unless you start traveling to take photos. I didn’t spend anything on my drone last year, but I spent a lot on travel to take pictures.
I spent $1000 on an Air2s almost 3 years ago. Since then, I’ve bought 1 extra battery for $115, a drone wrap for $60, and a few other small items like prop guards and a landing pad. The drone still works great, and I don’t need anything else for now.
Compared to a real airplane, drones are really cheap!
Drones are mostly content creation tools. If content creation isn’t your thing, your drone will probably gather dust.
Blake said:
Drones are mostly content creation tools. If content creation isn’t your thing, your drone will probably gather dust.
Maybe for you, but that’s a pretty ignorant comment.
You mean if you don’t crash it? If you get a drone with collision avoidance, you’ll save money in the long run. Otherwise, expect to crash a few times, especially if you’re like me.
First, you need motivation. If you don’t travel or use it for profit, you might get bored of it. Maintenance is almost non-existent unless you crash. I bought extra batteries, SD cards, and an external hard drive. A big crash was my only problem in 4 years. You can buy more things later, like extra batteries or faster storage, but they’re not essential.