Nice article. Upvoted. I think however your cost projections are off. According to marketwatch.com where I think you got your figures. Only "Reaching the moon would cost about $10 billion — estimates range from $7 billion and $13 billion — with an additional $28 billion to $52 billion being spent on the construction of base-related structures"
Still feasible since we wont be able to build the colony in one year and will probably spend several years building it
I will fully admit that I was a little loose with the numbers writing this article (and you're right, that's where I got my numbers.) The point I was trying to make though is that it is significantly cheaper to colonize the Moon than Mars.