[robotkilla]

The problem is that I typically work for small startups that don't have a big budget to work with.

I'm also not sure what sort of data the people in this thread are working with. I can't make $125k per year in the midwest as a fulltime developer (unless I'm freelancing - and even then keeping steady contracts has been near impossible). In fact I'm not seeing those numbers anywhere outside of the west coast - I applied for a fulltime job in CO recently and they balked at $90k... said they couldn't go over $60k.

Edit: recently quoted a local client at $75 per hour... he looked visibly perturbed and never got back to me.

A few contracts back I quoted $80 per hour and was told max budget was $60/hour (which I had to accept out of desperation).

I hear a lot of talk on the internet (especially HN) about people making massive amounts of money as contractors, but I have yet to see this in action. On the other hand $10k per month isn't that bad.