Sounds almost exactly me. I leave important emails in my inbox that I'm working with (and one or two from my parents). I have a max of about 10 at any time. Zero unread.

I would love to see these states represented:

- Unseen (sent but I haven't opened my inbox or cleared the notification)

- Unread (seen but not opened)

- Read

- Read & replied

Then I can delete and archive when I want.