A digital life free of subscriptions?
I consider myself a seasoned self hoster. I don't write code or do any kind of scripting in any of the languages used, I'm just not that bright!, but I don't mind getting my hands a little mucky in terminal when things go a bit bonkers, which they sometimes do.
I use a self hosting platform called Yunohost. I've had it in place now for about 5 years and I pay no subscriptiontions to anyone. Well, thats a bit of a fib, I have recently started paying 10 euros a month to the folks at yunohost becuase they do such a good job.
When you install the platform you get a free domain, mine is casper.nohost.me
What do I host?
File management & sharing: Nextcloud, with Collabera & Nextcloud Office (A full office suite)
Password management: Vaultwarden (Uses Bitwarden clients)
Music: Navidrome (There are some fantastic clients for this server app)
Photos: Piwigo (Phone auto uploading, galleries and sharing)
Accounts: Invoice Ninja (Free community edition, server app and clients)
Websites: WordPress , and now trying out Pure Blog
Email: Comes with a full email stack
That's my digital life. All of the above have a mobile app, or are mobile friendly. You can see all the stuff that I self host here
Now, I'm not saying that it's all been plain sailing, yes there is the odd hiccup, sometimes when an app gets updated, but these are always fixable. There is a full backup and restore service included, a good and a reliable collection of apps to put on your server.
In summary
I pay absolutely no subscriptions to anyone. (Well, not quite).The 10 euros to Yunohost is voluntary, but for the work the community does I feel it's the right thing to do. I'm being economical with the truth, again. I do pay yearly for a couple of domain names. There are no direct debits or standing orders being paid to anyone other than Yunohost and my domain registar. And if I want to disappear...? I just pull the plug...!