nealtw
Contractor retired
It is fairly common in the DIY world and wire is not cheap. I keep a supply of 12-2 and 14-2 around but would never use a roll of 12-3 or 14-3 up in a lifetime. So I would wire it just as shown here minus the double ups under the screws and a few other things like not having a ground. I have always marked the travelers though with red tape.
One thing that drives me nuts I think I saw in some of the pics here is when I see the wire wrapped the wrong way around the screw.
One thing I have done and the pros can tell me if it is to code or not with a jumper like this. If I dont want to use the pigtails and wire nut I just leave the feed wire long and strip it in the middle and make a loop for the screw. Two wires come off one screw but only one thickness of wire. Then I strip the end and make a hook for the next connection.
I first started doing it in barns as a kid where we had a string of porcelain bulb fixtures and instead of cutting the wire a bunch of times and making connections we just stripped the wire without cutting. If you did get some corrosion the rest of the string wasnt affected.
This situation did not have 2 cables stacked. It was achieved with one 14/2
I think your side strip is fine, but I am no expert either.