You're welcome. I have moved to Source Hut three years ago [0]. My page is https://sr.ht/~bayindirh/
You can also self-host a Forgejo instance on a €3/mo Hetzner instance (or a free Oracle Cloud server) if you want. I prefer Hetzner for their service quality and server performance.
I just use ssh on a homeserver for personal projects. Easy to set up a new repo with `ssh git@<machine> git init --bare <project>.git`. The I just use git@<machine>:<project>.git as the remote.
Your method works well, too. Since I license everything I develop under GPLv3, I keep them private until they mature, then I just flip a switch and make the project visible.
For some research I use a private Git server. However, even that code might get released as Free Software when it matures enough.
You can also self-host a Forgejo instance on a €3/mo Hetzner instance (or a free Oracle Cloud server) if you want. I prefer Hetzner for their service quality and server performance.
[0]: https://blog.bayindirh.io/blog/moving-to-source-hut/