Money buys freedom. Save up a couple years of living expenses and you can go do what you want for a couple years. If you're prudent, this could also develop the skills that'll make sure your next job is both more fun and more lucrative than your past ones.

Actually, you don't even have to quit. Just knowing that you can quit, if you're not happy, changes how you interact with your employer. Don't like what you're doing? Do something else, either there or at a different company.

> Just knowing that you can quit, if you're not happy, changes how you interact with your employer.

I think if I KNEW this, I'd have a significantly different perspective on things.

Try part-time freelancing. That's how I've been able to survive these last 5 years. I spend about 20 hours a week working for clients and the rest of my time (usually another 40 hours a week) I spend on my own projects. I don't make a lot of money, but I make enough to live on. And I get to spend most of my time doing what I love.

Freelancing is hard. It's especially difficult to get into a part time situation. Most clients don't want a consultant, they want an employee they don't have to file HR paperwork for. But if you network enough, you'll get there and it will be fine.

I think, if you can get out of the soul-crushing chasm of despair that is wage employment, you'll find that software development is indeed your calling. You just don't like being treated like a child in that calling.