Fair enough, my Canadian bias snuck in there.

Seems strange to me, but you do you!

Wouldn’t you be common-law after 35 years?

Specific to the USA “70-78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck” source

If you want the whole house, you’ll need to crack the box to get at the phase split as it comes in.

If you want to track individual circuits, you should be able to do it outside the box. It will work with single phase at least,but not sure about dual-phase; but those are usually reserved for heavy appliances like stoves and dryers.

You can get meters that clamp over the wire, no electrician required.

https://www.smarthomeperfected.com/best-smart-home-energy-monitor/