Databases versus plain text

Question

When dealing with small projects, what do you feel is the break even point for storing data in simple text files, hash tables, etc., versus using a real database? For small

Answer 1

In software I can usually get away with storing values in a XML configuration file or in the registry, e.g. software options. Once I need to persist objects I move to a database because the upfront cost is not that bad compared to the long term effects that relations and reporting can offer.