I have been reading about internet privacy for a long time. As time went on, I got a vpn subcription, a custom domain, a paid email hosting, etc. No regrets on the services themselves.
I recently had this conversation with a colleague of mine, complaining about the rising cost of everything including internet subscription services: netflix, spotify, youtube, you name it. I could simply disregard my colleague’s complaints as I didn’t have any of those and know the ways of obtaining materials. However, once I start adding up the privacy related services I’m willingly paying instead… they also add up into a considerable amount.
So, do you pay for anything privacy related, how much do you pay in total, and is it affordable for you? For example, many VPN providers offer yearly subscriptions around 40-50 USD.
I think the answer you are looking for is less privacy oriented than OP understands it to be. The benefit of renting computational resources someplace outside your control is e.g. that it allows you to send mails to known providers which otherwise would refuse your mail if you would sent them originatig from a private IP address or e.g. having a always on cloud storage without running a computer in your basement 24/7 etc.