You only need to track the stuff with a GP cost; everything else your can use a focus for or assume it’s in a component pouch of you don’t use a focus. The GP cost items, yeah, I definitely track. Also the costs in time and ink (ie gold) for copying spells into your spellbook. My wizard of constantly broke, and the rest of the party have thousands of gold each.

Sometimes I’ve used the material components of my spells as an RP restriction for my druid. Like, I can only prepare spells for which I could reasonably find materials in the environment I’m currently in. I still don’t track anything without gold cost, but I do like the material components for rp reasons. also makes me play a bit more creatively because I can’t just pick the best spells every time

Why yes, I do have eight handfuls of guano in my fanny pack, thank you for asking

My group just assumed all things that are not consumed by the spell and don’t have an explicit cost were just in a standard-issue component pouch.

I do use the materials when describing my spell casting, which I only describe if it feels pivotal.

Like insect plague needs fat, sugar and grains, so my cleric hocks a big loogie of powdered whale blubber sashimi he’s been chewing at the center of the radius of the spell.

I think it would be awesome to have something where, for whatever reason, the caster loses their component pouch and has to make do with what they can find. Ideally with substitutions, like in Monkey Island.

You’re telling me that your component pouch has a 5,000 gp diamond? 🤣