TLDR; know your job, get off big tech, vote with your attention/data/purchases, use privacy phone and carriers, stop buying shit from assholes, learn how to be alone, save tiny amount from paycheck and don't touch

Learn your job better than anyone else. Good ole boys club, affirmative action, and nepotism can't make up for incompetence. I've overcompensated for being from a poor family my whole tech career by going above and beyond and learning more and more skills. After 20 years, people listen to me and I have an insane amout of leverage in my workplace.

No google, gmail (almost 100%off), Amazon Prime, reddit, Facebook, Instagram, youtube, or Spotify. I am using several emails in Europe. Amazon and Facebook were easy to remove. Reddit was replaced with Lemmy. I also use Mastadon and Pixelfed. Make a personal threat model first so you don't go nuts implementing countermeasures. Get NextDNS on your phone and filter trackers if tracking is an issue for you. Good luck on this long journey.

Instead of Firefox, I use Libre and I started using Tor browser and FOSS browser for Android, and with my new phone a native fork of Bromite that was preinstalled.

Instead of my Samsung phone, I bought a Fairphone 6 with e/OS already installed and am using Murena as my carrier. This just became available in the US. I'm transitioning to it all now. So far customer service is slow through email, but they responded over night and no issues with coverage.

I started voting with my attention, but also with my wallet. No Target. No Ticketmaster. Absolutely no Coors ever! There are a few things I refuse to buy.

Also, I have a bit of each paycheck go into an emergency account of a bank that does not exist in my state. If I have to withdraw, I either need to cross state lines or find a local co-op participant bank. After several years, I have not only a huge emergency fund but also 6 months of living expenses that I transferred to a money market account when the emergency account got too high. I have made withdrawals for auto repairs and to hospitalize my pet.

I don't buy too many things. Mostly just clothes that are durable and video games. Saving money means you can tell your boss to kiss your ass if you need to. Your vote might not count as much, but your wallet, data, and attention can be used to vote every day.

Also just be by yourself. Stop going out every chance. Do your own thing. There are worse thing than being alone. Be very careful if you date. Watch for red flags like love bombing and people who constantly speak negatively about your friends / family.

You don't need all this stuff!

Uhhh – I live alone, work remote, in an RV, that I move every 2 weeks.

To better enable that I try to stay on top of health, fitness and stress management. I feel like once medical issues start to become more prevalent that style of independence starts to slip away.

I always try and do my own repairs. Coffee machine, bicycle, electronics, anything that I'm capable of doing myself without risking catastrophe/death (I stay away from plumbing and electrical repairs mostly). If I can find a way to save money (cut my own hair, home gym instead of gym membership) I try and pursue that so I need to spend less time slaving away for my employer.

I wish I could do major repairs at home too, but I'm forced to rent so not legally allowed to.

Independence from what?

AM I BEING DETAINED?

Live below my means. Carry no debt. Save up for shit I wanna buy. Use the money I get from my investments as bonus money.

I have endured over 29 years of familial abuse from an unloving and manipulative family before I truly and fully got to live on my own. The other two move-outs, were with other people, who I could work with but no long-term plans. I've been on my own for 3 and a 1/2 years now. I don't regret a thing. I've endured so much shit to have gotten me here and I've been floating just fine.

Run my own server at home to store my files.

• host my own opem-source software to stay independent from big tech and save my privacy (also it's a lot of fun) • not let anyone tell me how to live my own life. You think smart working is lazy? I'm not woring for you. You think I'm weird because I don't conform to your ideas? Don't care. I know my worth and respect myself • learn, learn and learn new stuff. It's nice and convenient (and usually cheaper) to have people do stuff for you, but for the most important things, it's important that you can do them yourself, if there's an emergency • looking forward to be self-employed. This is still a work in progress...

I've been independent since 18. I don't maintain my independence... it's never been an option for me to be a dependent on anyone else.

I don't have independence, I have a wife instead. Could I be independent of her? Sure, but we really would rather that not be needed.

I live in a trailer and travel. I'm starting to look into work camping and am gonna try and sustain a vagabond lifestyle for as long as possible.

apply for jobs.

I buy my own stuff.