For your information and consideration, I have a 2TB USB disk (SSD) and I partition it 1/2 to be a TimeMachine backup and 1/2 to be a real disk. Plenty enough room for you to put all your cloud stuff on that sort of drive instead of in the Cloud, and get a backup.
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Oh! That is useful and good information. Sometime i want to use TimeMachine. I will try that too.
Thanks for your kindness! I hope you have a good day!
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Better start using it now. You need a backup of your data, and timemachine is one of the easiest to use programs for that.
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Since you have only 256 gb hard disk, you only need to allocate say 2x 256 = 512 gb. Leave the rest of any USB drive you purchase to be a partition for “real” disk space. And set up TimeMachine sooner rather than later.
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I will start now! Thanks for reply!
Yes i need backup. Thanks for detailed explanation. I will use TimeMachine soon! 
Here’s a little more info in backups…
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Thanks a lot! I will read it.
I can’t wait to use devonthink!
Have a good day!
i understand that apple recommend using a Time Machine disk exclusively for Time Machine and its backups, and to keep other data on separate disks.
I never saw that recommendation, but Apple says a lot of things all over the place.
All I can and will say is that my partitioned backup works. Been tested, of course, so that’s how I know it works for me. Probably some sort of technical difference between a separate partition vs. a separate disk. Dunno. I do know that when I directed the TimeMachine backup to that partition (not the only place where I direct backups), the TimeMachine program did not complain. If that’s what Apple thinks, then perhaps they should make a change to the TimeMachine app.
That is not my only TimeMachine destination, nor the only backup that I take on my systems (plural).
The OP claimed to be a student with restriction on funds; hoping to help.
hope i didn’t offend you by chipping in - i was only reporting what i’d read. but keeping additional data on a separate partition, i guess might be the same as two different disks. it may be apple covering themselves but this is from their official support document (apple uk website):
Connect a storage device to use for backups
Connect an external storage device to your Mac, such as a USB drive or Thunderbolt drive.
- Only use this storage device as your Time Machine backup disk, not for storage of other files.
- Ideally, your backup disk should have at least twice the storage capacity of every disk or volume you’re backing up. If your backup disk doesn’t have enough storage space to contain a complete backup, Time Machine will let you know.
Frankly, do not know what that “storage device” means. The text says “storage device”, not partition. Partition means something. I agree it’s probably not a good idea to put other files into the partition that holds TimeMachine Backups, but not clear from the assertion above. I don’t think “storage device” means, say, a USB drive with multiple partitions. Whatever. People free to do what they want and pay no attention to me–probably a good idea!
At this point, all I know is that the TimeMachine app invited me to use the partition I used, and did not complain. And I can restore from that backup–tested it.
Probably the vast majority of Apple customers don’t know what partitions are, and even fewer would have bothered to read the instructions. Hence for those that do read the instructions, Apple tech writer apparently chose to use the words “storage device”.
No way I’m going to dedicate my entire Synology NAS (12 TB) “storage device” to a TimeMachine backup.
Cheers. I am not bothered at all. Thanks for the contribution.
‘external storage device’ i assume would mean a connected disk with its enclosure. apple support documents tend to keep things simple but that approach can get vague and lacking in clarity. although as you point out; prompted by time machine to use a partition then it’s likely to be fine.
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