Do you chart even when you aren't trying to conceive as a way to keep track of your cycles? I've never charted but have though maybe I will give it a try if we have troubles conceiving #3 and didn't know how long you need to have recorded. (if we decide to have a #3 
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i charted to prevent. I used an oral basal body thermometer and the VIP fertility friend app. We would avoid intercourse or use other methods during my peak time. We were also ok with getting pregnant if it happened, which it did on the 5th month when my thermometer died and the new one read my temps higher in the middle of my cycle. That caused FF to lead me to believe i had already ovulated.
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I stopped taking BCP and I charted for 5 months before TTC LO 3 as prevention and to learn more about my cycles.
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I charted to prevent for a few months. We will TTC on my next cycle.
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Charting was the bain of my existence when TTC. To be reliable, it has to be done after so many hours of sleep, at the same time every day, done before any movement or physical exertion, etc. I only did it with my current pregnancy due to fertility issues (LO1 was conceived quickly without charting, opks, etc. If you don't need it, I'd say you aren't missing much.
ETA: When I went on vacation, my acupuncturist and I agreed I could take a charting break. Felt like such a treat!!!
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I charted to prevent. It can be a pain and you do have to be careful and do it correctly to make sure its accurate. My body just doesn't agree with most birth controls so charting it is for me!
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I charted to avoid successfully for three years prior to the birth of my son. I did it very low tech, I had a BBT thermometer and a small calendar by my bed. After I had a month's worth of data, I would transfer it to excel.
Then I used a period tracker app on my phone to predict the confirm the fertile window.
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I charted to avoid. It takes a good 3 months or so to see when you normally ovulate. You want to have a number of months done so that you can see if you regularly ovulate around a certain day. I started when I was still breastfeeding (I got my period back 7.5mo pp) so it took me a little longer- about 5 cycles to get an understanding. I used OPKs (wondfos) and that really helped me pinpoint O. So I would recommend those if you don't get a clear O day the first few months.
Overtime, I realized mine temps were reliable (meaning I got a clear temp shift) as long as I took my temp around the same time each morning (within 30min) and had enough sleep overall. It didn't matter if I had woken up to pee 2 hours earlier, I still had reliable temps unless I really had not gotten much sleep at all.
If you're trying to avoid, I would use protection up until you confirm O. We just pulled out, and I am comfortable with that. Sperm can live up to 5 days and I have even heard 7 days. So it's really important to make sure you use protection in case you ovulate a few days earlier. I ovulated 1 day earlier than normal and got pregnant from having had sex 5-6 days before O so it's totally possible that you can get pregnant from sperm that have been hanging around. Thankfully it was our last month TTA but if I do it again I won't even risk it until after I confirm O because I think I am done with 2. But I will probably end up getting an IUD or something after this one is 1. I did chart to avoid for over a year before I got pregnant with this one.
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I charted for a year before TTC to learn my cycles and try to figure out the weird mid-cycle and extended pre-period bleeding I experienced. Due to my super variable length cycles and tons of bleeding it was INCREDIBLY helpful data to have amassed once we started TTC. I assumed I would have huge issues getting pregnant, because my luteal phase was often super short (so I learned by charting) and the bleeding so irregular, but I knew my cycle and signs so well by the time we started TTC my first that I got pregnant the second month.
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