I use the $5 plan. Basically for any time I’m searching for something I already know where to look (weather, sports scores, particular website) I use ddg or brave (or bookmarks). When I’m looking for more nuanced things like programming questions, recipes, reviews, etc. I use Kagi. Works pretty well with bangs in Firefox.
To answer your question: I hate ads so it’s worth it to me to have no sponsored crap in searches where there is something to sell
Don't have a solution, just want to say I feel ya! Wisconsin here - below 0 first thing I do when I get in is make coffee and just hold the mug for like 5 minutes