Never said my logic is applicable to everyone.
Sure, I can buy another useless gadget or piece of clothing every 3-4 months instead of yt prem and sure I can just emulate all features with vanced (or whatever the new hot app is) and sure I pay Google a good hefty amount of cash for things that are already free.
My logic essentially is:
I can use 1st party apps without much hacking around trying to sideload apks on my Chromecast AndroidTV
I don’t have the ads
I don’t have any ads on any of my devices
No risk of compromise for my google account
I get all the features I need
My consumption of yt is way higher (daily 2-3h) than what I got out of Netflix etc. so it actually is at least somewhat worth it compared to other streaming services. I’d call this my replacement for linear tv.
I sail enough for 2 lives already with a seedbox, usenet, (formerly) tachiyomi so I am fine with paying for at least that.