not exactly a VPS but a ssh tunnel to $5 digital ocean server.
ssh -fND 8989 user@mydomain.com
And using proxychains for anything that doesnt support socks proxy out of the box.
I wish every PHP developer would reread the docs and start using new features available instead of just continuing with what they know already just because it works. And of course if there was any way to remove all those old tutorials out there.