Playing without cheats

I do... sort of. I have no problem cheating to look up information that I could find anyway, like the traits of a townie or someone's relationship status (I could switch houses and then save without quitting, but why waste the time?), or maybe how quickly my sim is earning job experience (so I can switch to "work hard" if necessary). But the only thing I change using cheats is the inheritance of a household newborn whose characteristics are important to my game. I don't need my sims to be beautiful, but some of them come out looking so unfortunate that I feel an obligation to intervene, for their sake. (As in, I might be compelled to get rid of them otherwise.)

I don't use money or relationship cheats, even at the beginning of the game; I actually like the challenge of starting out broke and friendless. I do usually begin with a couple, but they have to get creative to keep themselves in a good mood—one efficient way is to set them as engaged and then make them get married right away, for a 2 day +50 moodlet. And no matter how wealthy and connected a sim is, woohoo will still fill up the fun meter faster than even the most expensive electronics.