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basically then you have iCloud active but you just "ignore" it for things you don't want to go there?
Yep, it's been that way forever, as far as I can remember. Great apps, like 1Password, allow you to sync things with different 'cloud' services. I've always used Dropbox whenever possible. I still have used barely a third of my free 7.75GB!
OTOH, I use both the manual, local computer and the iCloud backups for our iDevices. Two different backup sources should be everyones standard operating procedure, anyway. That way, there's no "trust" involved.
It paid for it already, why not use it?!