Ask HN: Safe email service provider for poor people?

In face of the recent discussions regarding Google locking out users for no reason [1], I've decided to look for an alternative email setup. The common advice here is usually something around the lines of Fastmail or ProtonMail with a custom domain. Well, I'm an unemployed student in a third world country where the minimum wage is 150 USD/month. Considering a .com domain registered with Namecheap plus a Fastmail or ProtonMail plan with custom domain support, that would cost around 6-8 USD/month. For comparison, the only subscription I currently pay for (besides bank fees and etc) is Spotify, which costs me 1.5 USD/month with the student plan (I actually split this with a friend).

With that said, what would be the best cost-benefit setup for a safe, personal email service? Thanks.

[1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24965432