Phone:

Pixel 4a with Graphene OS, only GCam Services Provider (https://github.com/lukaspieper/Gcam-Services-Provider) to be able to use Google Camera. Implementation is super simple and it shouldn't take long to see that it actually does nothing.

Browser:

Firefox - followed https://blackgnu.net/firefox-hardening-guide.html; Fennec on Android

Search - https://searx.space/ (plan on self hosting one)

Youtube - https://docs.invidious.io/instances/ (plan on self hosting one)

Passwords:

Bitwarden - backups done regularly to encrypted external storage and encrypted rclone mount

Email:

Tutanota/Protonmail + custom domain

2FA:

Aegis

Messaging:

Signal - easiest way to setup for non-technical friends and family. Used to use a few different apps, but only use this right now. I also use https://meet.jit.si/ occasionally for calls on the laptop/desktop.

VPN:

Mullvad - currently working on setting up my own.

Maps:

Organic Maps on Android/Open Street Maps on desktop/laptop.

Sync:

Syncthing - syncing desktop, laptop, a few phones to my home server on LAN only.

Notes:

Markdown files kept on devices, synced through syncthing.

Media:

Emby - had issues with Jellyfin, but might revisit in a few months as I have some plans there.
Airsonic - music

Adblocker:

Mullvad + ublockorigin

Calendar:

Tutanota

Analytics for website:

C# console app that parses caddy logs and clears logs after parsing.

Cloud:

Create encrypted mount with rclone and dump backups there when needed.

It was a slow process to get here and I am lucky to have friends who followed me on this journey to be honest. The first step came while working for my final project at university and building something around my heavy dislike for Facebook. Once I had to research the subject more in depth I started to realize how wrong I was all these years entrusting troves of data to the highest bidder... I had a friend who had asked me about these things and I am sorry for not listening to him sooner, but I felt that he never went past "bro, you shouldn't trust google!". Which is I think what most of us do.

I am trying to have conversations about this with everyone and try to adjust my language to their level. It's good because it highlights how little I know and it works both ways as I have to learn myself a bit more about any given topic. It's quite nice. It's even better to have people who have followed me on this path, moving to devices with no google services at all on them, moving away operating systems and so on.

If you think you're stuck, try to get rid of an app or two and see how it goes. Most of them add little to NO value to your life and your tech stack so trust yourself and delete them. It took me about a year to fully get rid of any google related stuff (and I include micro G here to allow me to run stuff like WhatsApp/YT/Gmail/Maps). And I knew it's bad, so I imagine it's a lot harder if you don't think there are risks.

Some things are more difficult, but my phone is now a tool that quietly sits on a desk somewhere in the house and I use it to do something specific. It's also reassuring to know it's not constantly feeding off me to send info to whoever is interested in my particular demographic.

As an afterword, please, all of you who suggest open source alternatives, also keep in mind that most of these projects have very little financial support. A few dollars, euros, pounds might not mean much to you, but it could make the world of difference for all these people working to keep our data safe and our devices useful. Stop recommending people stuff and starting with "it's free" and phrase it with "it's private and secure...". Start introducing the cost early on. Without our support these alternatives can and will vanish or will morph to attempt to keep themselves alive.