I'm a software engineer, earning in the lower 10% of others with the same amount of experience. In terms of my knowledge and skill, I'm probably at least a halfway-decent programmer. There are some things that I probably should know but don't. I didn't negotiate at the time of being hired, and later learned that I probably should have.

There is a need for more money. Warning: the following contains bitching and complaining

I don't want to live in a shitty apartment with cockroaches anymore. I don't want to hear some asshole blasting his subwoofers or playing ranchero music outside my door at 2am. I don't want to hear gunshots or fear for my life when I'm walking alone at night. So I pay the ridiculous price of rent to live in a decent area. Along with that, I didn't start driving until I was 23. I got ripped off on the price of my car because I didn't have the resources or credit to shop around at the time. My car insurance is $300 per month. I've been in a couple of fender benders which hasn't helped. I need to work 2 jobs in order to save anything.

In terms of socializing - I'm pretty introverted and do work a lot. As I remember it, nearly all of the friends I've made over the years have approached me. I also find myself not getting along with most people. I tend to see qualities in people that just bother me for one reason or another. I'm probably just a cynical asshole. Never have been much of a social butterfly. The people who are my friends - they just clicked. I don't really know why or how to explain it. However, I did meet them in environments such as college or high school where people are more sociable.

I could push to make a better effort at socializing and making more friends I suppose. I'm definitely not trying as hard as I can. I'll see what I can do on that front.