At my last job, instead of waiting for a decent raise(which I would only get when I told them I was looking for a new job(2 times, 3rd time I did leave)) , I just started working 40 hours instead and coming in late. I mean, if creating a complex report/application that saved the company $100,000 each quarter isn't enough to get a more than average raise, what is. Won an award at least.

At my new job, I just don't have the same expectation of a great raise as I know there is a budget limit. At some point I'll probably negotiate vacation days but 30 PTO is fine I suppose. So we just work 40 hours and come and go with good flexibiiltiy. Might be able to make 10-15K more somewhere else but I'm sure it would be a lot more work and on-call duties like my other job was.