notimportant

I have had some great experiences as well; but there have been a slight handful that just are very slow to pay. The person I am hunting down for payment now has agreed to pay me as well as paid over half of their money owed - it's just they are taking a lot longer than is acceptable.

If I knew I could have a more reliable flow of income, freelancing/contracting would be amazing.

Agreed - those sites tend to hurt the market when relied on like that - at the same time it would be interesting to see peoples honest salaries - perhaps without mentioning company names but instead just their primary roles or titles. This information can possibly prove to be useful much as the info from this thread has been useful to me.

At times I do work from home - but generally it's because I was up until midnight coding to meet some deadline that is highly unrealistic, and not planned out appropriately. Working from home is highly "frowned upon" by upper management and not something that is generally accepted, even though I have everything I need and more at my home office.

Info for NYC:

At $110k (but as a sole breadwinner currently) I still live paycheck to paycheck. After taxes I am looking at approx $78k a year; my bi-weekly take-home is a couple dollars shy of $3k and my rent was $1800 for a small 2 bedroom condo but we have downgraded to a basement studio for $500 so we can pay off all our debts (wife's schooling, far too many credit cards, a far too expensive wedding and various other things). So far we have made a huge impact on our debt and we will soon start saving for a house.

If you were living directly in the city, you would need to double or even triple the rent. I do end up paying for it in commute time (2 to 3 hours worth of travel each day), but it allows us to get by just that little more.

I realize that that was a foolish thing to say ;) I won't take this thread as a reason to storm in to my employers office demanding a raise; but it is useful information to plan my future out accordingly. My current train of thought was that I would have no choice but to enter management shortly to be able to move up; and as stated in some of my replies, it's not something I want to do. With the realization that I may be able to expand quite a bit still as a developer alone (granted I am overseeing people, but it's far from managerial type functions) than it allows me to see what career path I can make for myself.

Quality of life will always remain important to me; but at the same token it's not all about the money, and it's not all about leaving at a punctual time. I understand this sector can call for some long and grueling hours and have paid my dues and am still willing to do so when necessary. As for salary, I have turned down jobs that were better compensated - but the atmosphere didn't sit well with me.

Sadly this is so confusing, and I hope I will be able to make more sense of everything as this thread continues to expand.

Here in NYC, or more specifically within the 5 boroughs, you can get an attached house with a small backyard for around $550k to $650k. $350k will get you a small condo or townhouse if you are lucky. As soon as you want something a little more private, such as a detached house you are easily looking at $800k and above.

http://www.paycheckcity.com/netpaycalc/netpaycalculator.asp

I have used this calculator in the past - it seems to be pretty close to accurate when I have attempted to determine what I should ask for in terms of future raises.

It would be amazing if people would be more open about sharing their salaries - but sadly it's just something that is sometimes better left unsaid. I know I make more than my father in law, but he doesn't need to know that. I know that I have coworkers that I somewhat oversee, and they may be underpaid for their actual skill sets. But should they know what I make - probably not as to avoid jealousy.

If only we could all just be open about it. (and of course this all coming from someone hiding behind an anonymous account...)

Fair question - I would be more realistic in my future job opportunities and take a better view at my current job. I would obviously strive to make the most I can with my skill-set, but I wouldn't price myself out of jobs that I am qualified for.

Agreed - while it seems to be a nice lifestyle for some, the stress of not having a steady paycheck, the constant seeking for new work and the obvious role of being a debt collector makes it something that I'm not sure if I personally can do (I am dealing with a client who owes me money from March and I am still having a hard time getting them to pay up at this point).

Sadly I am overworked, stressed and the job just does not excite me as it used to (at least in this sector that I work in) - there are some pros at my current place of employment as well; I just need to figure out if seeking new opportunities is worth it and especially at my current rate of income. Since I am seeing a lot of people mention positions that pay higher then I am also starting to think I might be underpaid. More things to add to my stress :)

That is my greatest fear - going in to on hands management, or full on management. Hard core finance is more my nightmare and I won't even consider that :)

Thank you for the reply;

I haven't used indeed in so long, I wasn't even aware that there was a salary range option - I've relied far too much on recruiter presented opportunities (even though I am aware that that is generally a poor decision).

I am avoiding the financial sector as well as larger institutions like the plague - I want to continue to stay on the top of my game and not get bogged down by business politics - even the agency lifestyle seems to do that.

I would love to go off on my own, and willing to take a pay cut (once my wife enters the work force and we are able to do so), but I am sadly not sure how I would eventually do that. Freelancing failed for me, and starting my own business is something that would require more business skills than I have. Sadly, procrastination is also my enemy.

I think I am good enough to be earning my salary, and even believe I could be earning more - my primary concern is that I will be too expensive for the jobs that I want.