I used to play without mods when I first got the game in 2012 or 2013 (can't remember the exact year I started TBH). Sometime before or after 2015, I began playing with mods. The NRAAs mods were there to make the game run smoother, make inactive Sims get married/have babies, and offer custom careers. One of them would restock bakery shelves (NRAAs Cupcake), but if you put that in without having the bakery set from TS3 store, the game will not load (speaking from experience).
I also had some mods from MTS for minor problems (such as rabbit hole doors) and adding more gameplay. Nowadays I couldn't imagine playing without mods. As for CC, I use a default skin and default eye replacement because the EA version didn't look good.