Even though I don't use them all the time, I love templates. I hate the argument that it's "cheating" to use a template. I don't view scrapping as an art contest... I am truly trying to get my family's memories down on paper so things are documented for the future. My kids don't care if I use a template or not, and outside of galleries -- nobody else who looks at my pages cares, either. How is it cheating if it helps you have more time to get more memories documented? Nope, I simply can't subscribe to that idea.
I use templates about 60-70% of the time (that's a guesstimate and not derived in a scientific fashion! LOL). The rest of the time, if I "freehand" a layout and end up really liking it, I just make it into a template for later/repeated use in the future.
Like others said above, I find it's quicker/easier to scrap with a template -- and my creative/scrap time is SOO limited (sooo... I'd rather waste it on my perfectionist tendencies when it comes to elements, shadows, etc... ha!). Seriously, though, I find I can pull together a layout quicker using a template and I fuss around with it much less.
That said, I don't like seeing the same template over and over and over (and over!) in the galleries all the time, so even if I buy a new set -- I'm not likely to use it for a while... I love delving into my template stash and pulling out templates from years ago. That way, I still feel like what I'm creating is unique and fresh, but I don't have to work so hard to compose it on the page.