I don't see a lot of the cheats in this game as cheats. For example, I always use move objects when building. I use testingscheats to go into CAS faster, and add freckles etc on children since they don't appear naturally. But changing appearance further doesn't count as cheating to me either, since it doesn't affect gameplay.
Now, cheating for real would be giving your family more money, raise their skills or career, or raise relationships immediately. That makes gameplay easier since they get the thing you're "supposed" to work for in game.
So even if I open up the cheat menu every time I play, I don't think of most of the cheats I use as cheating. But it's not that deep, either lol. Cheating gets a bad rep in other games, obviously, but I don't think it deserves that in The Sims.