There are many ways to have fun. The things I don't like doing is having to meet sims needs and pay the bills. So...
When I start a new sim, and I have mods now and I have HUGE households.
I also play on the longest life span possible for all age stages other than baby. That gives me plenty of time to do whatever I want. I can always buy them a birthday cake to age them up earlier and I often do give them a cake. I usually decide on what they need to achieve before they age up and once they've done that I move them on to the next age stage.
When I start a new sim I have a few rules. It'll be slow at first. I satisfy all wishes possible to build lifetime happiness points. When LTH hits 7,500 points I get the Simunity reward. Now my sims don't catch cold and don't get allergic reactions to picking wildflowers. Picking wildflowers is lucrative. I like to send them to the Festival grounds to pick wildflowers to sell immediately. Don't keep them too long as they lose value.
If you have the Stones Throw Greenhouse from the store, or just the sunflower from that venue you can collect the little suns it produces and sell them for 100 simoleans each if you are in need of quick cash. I have the whole venue and always have it in my worlds. Sims can collect seeds, harvestables, and minor pets and wildflowers to keep or sell.
Next reward I work towards costs 10,000 lifetime happiness points. It is Steel Bladder. No need to worry about bladder need after they get this one.
Then I work on getting 15,000 lifetime happiness points and buy No Bills Ever.
Next one is also 15,000 LTH points. That's Fast Learner.
Then I work through all of the 5,000 point rewards such as Observant, Speedy Cleaner, Jetsetter and whatever else I think my sim might benefit from. Then there are many other rewards to collect. The more the sim has the more I can do with that sim with less effort.
I record my gameplay and made videos on YouTube if you're interested in seeing some of my sims in action. The link in my signature is to my YouTube Channel. I ran out of space to add more info down there.
Enjoy your game. It's fun.
