1 year in and I've never balanced a channel either. I do have a well funded node so I think that's part of the reason I've been ok. I've also been running on the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" mentality. I'm connected to nodes with people that have been doing this for much longer and no one said "hey your shits messed up" so I'm taking that as a good sign.

I do have some that are very unbalanced so I might give the fee thing a shot for shits and giggles.