Yes, life situation matters, obviously. I recommend people don't think of themselves as freelancers, but rather managers of a company that happens to currently

Yes, life situation matters, obviously. I recommend people don't think of themselves as freelancers, but rather managers of a company that happens to currently have one developer. But I digress. That last piece of advice you gave is golden: "Most customers will ask for a discount, as a rule. Hinge that discount on something you want (faster payment) instead of just giving it to them." Agreed 100%. And it doesn't just have to be faster payment, either. There's plenty of things you can do to change the rate. Also, if you haven't read this, here's tptacek's briliant advice on why your "rate" isn't everything: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=848685 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=848685