Here is something to try that has worked for me in my attempt to balance my distaste for discarding starter and some economy of effort in maintaining my starter. I have kept my starter going vigorously for about 9 months without ever refrigerating, but only occasionally actually "bake" with it. I got my starter going by following the KA directions, but without progressing to twice daily feeds. While I use primarily UB white flour in my feeds, I strive to add a little whole rye to each. I progressed to maintaining a smaller starter (about 1/4 cup baseline - see that KA link) pretty quickly
Working from my 1/4 cup base, I feed it once daily with 1/4 cup of flour (about 3TBS UB white, 1TBS rye) and 1-1/2 to 2 TBS water). I do not discard any starter, but keep adding a 1/4 cup feed for 2-4 days and at that point remove 1/2-3/4 cup to make a batch of sourdough pancakes or waffles, then start the process over with my 1/4 cup baseline starter.
For me, this notably decreases the effort of maintaining my starter, results in no discard (unless you consider a batch of pancakes discard!), and keeps my starter always active without subjecting it to the neglect of the refrigerator. Yes, I occasionally forget a day and my starter has forgiven me.

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