Spend >3 days preparing a proposal to a potential client...made it a bit cheaper to get into the company...

Now I'm too cheap to be good apparently...

FUCK CLIENTS!!!

Learning lesson but it's true, IMO, for most clients and even employers. If you're paid less, they think you're worth less, and this affects not only your ability to get contracts but how you get treated once you're on the job. You'd think you could take a lower-paying position to get better working conditions, but in my experience it's the opposite. If people know you're worth more in dollars, they treat you like you're worth more as a human being. Pretty sick, but at this point I ask for more money than I actually need or want dollar-wise because it seems to be the only way to get treated with dignity.