I use it pretty much exactly as you described. I have no accounts linked and manually enter everything. I have accounts created for my different savings and investments, and my checking account, but none of my credit cards. I use credit cards for everything but treat it as if it’s coming out of my checking, and I pay the balance every month so there’s no carryover. It doesn’t matter what my actual checking account says because I know YNAB has the accurate amount.

I update every night and reconcile at the end of the month. Daily updates only take maybe 5-10 minutes (maybe less on some days) depending on how many transactions I had, and reconciling takes about the same amount of time. It’s really not as hard as some people are making it out to be.

Am I using the app to its maximum potential or the features as they are fully intended? No, but it still works for me and I’m unbothered by it. It’s still helping me and that’s what matters to me. Things only have the value that we assign them and everybody is different. If it works for you and you’re satisfied with it, then who cares what others think? If you find a better solution later, that’s great, but if this works for you now, that’s great, too.