I mostly use my own plugins only I also try to keep distance from heavy and unwanted plugins.
Dont you need significant PHP knowledge to make mods?
Being new to it the first thing I thought was i wanted to avoid any plugins. My line of thougth is the more stuff to sift through the longer it takes and more chances for errors with themes and such.But the more I looked into the mods the more I wanted them. I am in the test phase but am really enjoying smf overall.