[dsc_]

30 usd a hour is not a fair wage for a programmer (considering 10 hours a week, 40 hours would be a different story) - you need to increase it. Please note your employer benefits from having an employee with decent living conditions. He knows, you know. If he's not willing to increase either your hours or rate I suggest to find something new.

[ccdev]

The only reason I accepted is because the alternative is having no work. It's harder to bargain for a fair wage when you're unemployed.

When we were discussing rates, I proposed $60/hr which is perfectly passable in the city I'm in for a contractor with my experience, but they couldn't do higher than $35. I am seeking something new but I need a plan to live comfortably in the interim.

[noonespecial]

So why are you paying $25/hour to develop someone else's product for them?

I'm not trying to be facetious here. Imagine yourself a talent broker (even if that talent happens to be you). If the going rate is $60 and you're only collecting $35, you're paying the extra $25 to get the work done.

I get that you're in a tight spot. That sucks and I hope it gets better for you. But "I can't go higher than $35" should be firmly met with "I can't go lower than $60". If the product really isn't worth developing at that rate, it might be a product that shouldn't exist at all. At the very least, you should be bargaining to own about 29% of the completed work since you're subsidizing it.

[ccdev]

It is harder to walk away from a subpar offer when you have no other job to fall back on.