Eneloops (and other rechargeables) do indeed have a high front end cost, although that can be lessened if you shop carefully. But do the math. You can recycle that Eneloops battery something like a thousand times. Including the cost of a quality recharging device, that works out to pennies per cycle. Basically, Eneloops don't leak.

Alkaline batteries are expensive, obsolete dinosaurs. You throw money away when you purchase them.