Software costs too much

So, I have a new... I dunno, I won't call it a project, but I've decided to try to make some better choices with what digital stuff I pay for. It seems a lot of things are unnecessarily expensive, and there are cheaper - sometimes even free - alternatives available. So far, I got rid of two things already, and it means saving some money each year - money which will undoubtedly go to OTHER digital stuff instead, but that's beside the point.

First of all, my 1password subscription was ending a litte while ago. I've been semi-annoyed with how 1password works for some time already, because there are too many places where it just... doesn't work well, and I need to go into the app and copy the necessary info instead of having it fill it in automatically. And their phone app is quite pretty, but annoying in the same way. When they sent me a notification that my subscription would be renewed in a week, I went to look for alternatives. I found Bitwarden, which is free for the way I use it, or much cheaper than 1password even for a paid subscription. So far, I'm very satisfied with that - also because it works more seamlessly both from the desktop computer and the phone.

Secondly, I've been a Day One (Mac/iPhone diary app) user for several years. However, the last redesign of the app put me more and more off it, as it's simply too white for my liking nowadays. Only the background of some elements have some colour now, everything else is whiiiite and veeery boring. Also, let's not forget, they keep adding all sorts of features that I don't really use - all I need is an attractive and colourful diary/writing app with tags and calendar, and a way to list and find past entries. I don't really need it to register my tweets and IG posts (eh? no, thanks!), or be able to open it from the menu line - it's fine to click the app/shortcut whenever I need it. If I can have multiple journals, then that's a good thing, too, in order to avoid total chaos in there.

A little while ago, I decided to check out Penzu - when I did it, it was mostly to have a place for my Czech language notes/learning - but I liked it, and it's definitely much nicer than Day One. So, when my Day One subscription expires in a while, I'm not going to renew that. And in fact, I've already replaced it with Penzu everywhere, and I'm much happier as a result.

Just for fun, I made a spreadsheet to see how much money can be saved in this way in a year - as in, by replacing expensive/bloated software with free/cheaper alternatives. Could be interesting to see, I think!