I use RSS a lot too. It's particularly useful for things that update only sporadically, like a personal blog or a slow-running webcomic. The updates show up in the RSS reader, and so you don't have to spend time checking low-traffic sites (or abandon them). You can also use RSS to get updates from youTube channels if you want, without needing an account.

I use theoldreader.com as my RSS reader. But I'm thinking that I might just switch to using Thunderbird instead at some point. I'm happy with theoldreader, but I figure that if Thunderbird works just as well, then that might be better for reducing information leakage. (Which isn't a big deal in this case, but it's just a good general principle to minimise it.)