Well, for a "normal" company, I'd say charge no less than $125 an hour, and negotiate from there based on your need/desire and keeping in mind the state of the

Well, for a "normal" company, I'd say charge no less than $125 an hour, and negotiate from there based on your need/desire and keeping in mind the state of the economy. Still, unless you want to do them a favor, you need to charge enough so that you're not burned out (working your ft job then burning the midnight oil / working on weekends). "Doing a favor" rates should be more in line with your market hourly rate -- divide your market salary by 2000 hours. Working for less than this is really sketchy, and you should only venture into that territory if there are significant non-monetary bennies coming your way (resume seriously needs the boost, etc).