Mullvad, and a strong internet connection from the spyware company of your choice. With that you can pirate any media, and browse the internet. I have never needed more.
this post was submitted on 03 Feb 2026
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The only extra subscriptions I have are a VPN while I'm at school, a domain name for my portfolio, and one game that is the main place I interact with my friends. Also have a slightly larger Google drive until I can afford to make my own NAS.
Honestly, I don't see the need for much more. Costco is great if you live near one (they are one of the few decent companies left). Server hosting for games is another one I've done in the past.
Adobe used to be manageable a decade ago, especially if you were sharing the cost. Same with Game Pass when it came out. Now the prices for both are absurd. Streaming has been replaced by the high seas.
Email, Nebula, Dropout, Borgbase, a domain name.
I also have humble choice, but that's a bit of a tossup. I've found some great games through it that I still play, but most months it still feels worth it to me
Edit: Forgot Mullvad VPN! Love that thing, 15/10 would recommend. Reddit doesn't like it, but also I don't like reddit so whatever
Mobile data.
Grocery delivery
Electricity
Water
VPN
And if you want a double whammy, get keepsolid, it's a Ukrainian company. So you're supporting Ukraine and getting a good vpn provider.
Electricity has been a pretty good subscription. Zero sales or promos ever though.
For the amount of work it does heck yeah.
But we also pay 40-50c per KWH so it really stacks up quick.
What? We get sales, like every night.
Not everywhere has variable electricity pricing like that. Actually I'd guess it's still uncommon.
Your own email domain + an account at a privacy respecting email service is more than worth it. Avoids the privacy nightmare that is using Google/Microsoft for your email, and gives you the flexibility to change email providers on a whim if your current one starts doing anything you don't like.
Library membership
Email to avoid email providers from companies like Google or Microsoft.
It's a great deal too! My own domain was 50€ for 10 years, and Purelymail hosting is 10 bucks per year.
Whats some good ones?
I use Tutanota with a private domain, but you can get a free address with them also.
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Dropout is one I enjoy and they do profit sharing internally, which is nice to see.
I'm happy to give Qobuz my money for providing an excellent music library and be the best paying streaming service for the musicians that I listen to.
I switched from you-know-who to Tidal and while I appreciate the sound quality the UI kinda sticks. How are you finding Qobuz?
I switched from you-know-who to Tidal and while I appreciate the sound quality the UI kinda sticks. How are you finding Qobuz?
I made the same journey. Used Tidal 1-2 years but never felt quite comfortable with it. The one that shall not be mentioned have got a lot in the UI right.
I'm still quite new to Qobuz but I like it much better. Their recommendations are much better, the search is much better, more info about fringe artists and sometimes albums too. Some bands/artists with the same name have confused albums but it's expected and okay I think.
Over all I'd say that Tidal is a great streaming service but Qobuz has music nerd appeal that reminds me of walking into my favourite record stores and chatting about new releases and recommendations from somebody that actually cares.
Getting back to you question, I see room for improvement but I'm much more comfy with Qobuz than I ever was with Tidal.
Judging based on what I'm actually paying for myself I'd say Mullvad VPN, Protonmail and a nameless AI assistant.
Edit: I forgot I've got a website too, so hosting of that is another one.
Mullvad is stellar. I’ve been a user for years and it’s never let me down.
I strongly disagree on proton mail. If you use a custom domain with a catchall it’s absolute trash. Also possibly the worst email search ever. Don’t even get me started on the proton bridge.
I lasted a few months (about 8) and then switched to fastmail. Worlds apart.
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Online backup. Because it will happen, eventually.
I manually backup weekly to a hard drive i wire up with a external HDD reader thing. Most jank BS i've ever done but it was practically 0 cost and it takes me only a few minutes to backup my whole system with FreeFileSync.
NAS would be next
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Internet and/or phone service.
In Canada it's a total racket, but it's still closer to the competitive price than whatever crazy number would make it not worth it.
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Kagi, next DNS, mullvad
If you're using mullvad, why not also use their DNS? Just curious
Health insurance, if you can afford it
Or, hear me out, tax that goes toward socialised healthcare.
Lmao!
Better healthcare than I’ve ever had for a tiny fraction of the price? You’re insane!
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A good VPN that values privacy is a pretty easy answer
Random one, but I get a lot of use out of a boardgamesarena premium membership. I've got a few mates that I can't see IRL as much any more, so it's nice to be able to jump on a video call and play some board games. Only one in the group needs a membership to unlock all the games and it's about £30 for the year. Easily better value than a few hours in a pub
I have other subscriptions I find varying levels of useful for me, but hard to argue for many of them being particularly good value.
Costco, Credit cards (assuming you can get your moneys worth).
On the nerdier side, Nabu casa, VPS.
And on the mundane, internet.
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