I,m probably still a little on the OCD side in this regard, but I,ve only been reloading a few years. Spent a lot of time talking to a couple of guys who had been reloading for quite a few years without losing any fingers or toes in the process before I decided to try it.
A reloading manual was the first piece of equipment invested in, with a lot more purchased since then, more to follow. Like to do a lot of cross referencing when starting on a new to me caliber. Initially, any time I had I had questions about some peculiarity of a particular round, seemed a lot simpler to stop what I was doing and run one or more of the rounds with accompaning list of abnormalities past one of the old pros before doin any more shooting.
Most of the time, just jumpin at shadows, couple times though, got to hear "This is what you,re doing wrong, and heres how to fix it."
Have a subscription to Load Data, been buying the Hogdon annual each year since I started reloading. Have,nt gotten around to Quickload yet, tend to usually buy one or two manuals a year on average.
I,ve known for a while now that I just need one more gun, but I,m never sure what caliber that might be. Seems prudent to have load data handy for it. What ever it might be...

Good post. By the way, Quickload is not a reloading manual.

I'm 31, Only been reloading 7 years, and I have 4 bullet manufacturer manuals and 5-6 powder manufacturer manuals.

I will check the internet for pet loads that seem to work well for a number of people, but I always compare them to multiple manuals and if something is slightly off I won't use them or I will slowly work up to them. I never blindly trust data on the internet.