I don’t think you have to spend a lot of money for privacy. Most apps and services are free.

Protons free tier is pretty strong, and their main plan is only 10€ per month. But you could also use PGP for email and Mullvad/IVPN for less.

Maybe unpopular opinion but I think most people don’t need a VPN and email isn’t meant to be private. Use Tor/I2P when you need maximum privacy and avoid email as much as possible.

Freedom isn’t free

I understand why others are taking issue on your asking for free services. Maybe it could have been phrased better but not everyone has the life circumstances to pay for privacy respecting services, that’s why I do like the freemium/donation models so those who are able can subsidize those who can’t. Hopefully when circumstances improve more people can “pay it forward”.

Here are my recommendations:

• Mail / Calendar / VPN / Drive: Proton free tier - 1GB shared storage and 1 VPN connection
• Chat / Messaging: Signal
• Community / Discord alternative: Matrix

Sounds like you should use a modded VPN from Mobilism, they have quite a lot of good stuff

I also don’t really have the means to pay for private services so here’s what I use: Proton mail and VPN - the mail is my secondary account, the free VPN works so well I don’t see myself ever needing to pay. Brave search - duckduckgo is usually the first name mentioned but personally I can’t get past the silly name. I’ve tried Neeva but didn’t love it and it’s going away, and Qwant, but the results aren’t great. Brave browser is good too.

As a wise man once said “You don’t get something for nothing / You don’t get freedom for free”

If you want it free, you should selfhosted it