Being Anonymous

When we talk about hacking, being anonymous is one of the most important things.

But how can be?

That being said, TOR is compromised and it is not anonymous anymore. However, OTW wrote in a post that we should use it, because more people use it more hard to identify a TOR client.

Perhaps i2p is anonym, but we can not send clearnat data through i2p (if I am correct).

Also hard to trust any VPN providers.

So how can we be anonymous?

I was considering to rent a VPS and setup my own VPN so I can be sure about that there will be no logging. But I have to pay with my CC. I also could use a free AWS tire as a VPN but to use a free tire I also have to register my CC.

So my question is:

Do VPS providers (or Amazon) logging (any information or traffic)?

Using TOR with my own private VPN or to use any hacking tools use my own VPN and an anonym proxy would be enough/sufficient?

What is the better, setup a private VPN or setup a private highly anonymous proxy server?

How do you stay anonymous?

obviously I do not want to do any illegal, but I think this is an important topic

thank you for your answers

(sorry for any mistakes, I am not a native English speaker)