I don't think I've ever burned a partial CD. I burn the whole project, and make sure it is finalized after burning. Its not difficult to do.
Generally you have 74 to 80 minutes as the maximum amount of time you can record depending on the disc you use. You can load up the list of songs you want and there's an option to save the project, then load it up later and add more songs to it until you are ready to burn the whole thing. Just look at the green bar on the bottom, if it goes into the red, you have too much stuff.
If you're worried about wasting a CDR, get some CDRWs, burn the project and if you want to change it, just erase the disc and start over. I've used them many times, work great for test burns. Save the project and when everything is right, burn the final copy, or just do a disc copy from the CDRW.
If you want to get a commercial product, Nero Burning ROM is available for $45. I don't know that it is anymore foolproof than CDBurnerXP plus it's limited to one machine only, so if you have multiple computers, or get a new one, you have that hassle to deal with. (Really a pity, as BurningROM was a really good program back in the day, but I don't think it's kept up with the times).