In a past job I was frequently around the globe and was not able to have my phone and SMS always with me. No matter how many settings I tweaked, it just seemed that google would not let me get into my gmail without my phone. Of course my banks would not let me in without my email. Ultimately I had to "de google" for the sake of being able to use the needed internet services wherever there was internet. When so much is tied to email these days, paying for a service that at least has a phone number to call if something goes wrong seems worth it to me, especially since most paid email services are reasonably priced.