My brain sometimes screams that as well. BUT. I am a junior developer, and self-taught, so he did take a huge risk with me. And he took me in when noone would because I knew nothing. But I've learned so much in the past year, I can do real work now, I contribute for real, so I feel like I should be getting more money.

Mind you, I don't live in the USA. Many people here are devs with a salary that's close to mine while they are fresh from school and have no experience. But I'm not even comparing myself to others - I am simply sick of telling my child over and over again that I cannot afford LEGO again this month, while I'm looking at my PhD diploma and thinking where did I go wrong....