Was it that much harder to be a witch in TS3 supernatural?

My Sims have learnt some useful spells and made some potions, but while I'm quite liberal with the money cheat, I'm fairly strict about having my Sims fulfill their needs and do their general housekeeping tasks, so I'm not actually using the spells and potions. I think that's part of the difference between doing everything in an hour and taking longer. I'm also in no rush - I want to discover things, not shortcut my way to the top. The game play along the way is more interesting to me than the achievement at the end.