I had that problem for an embarrassing number of years because I didn't know what flux was.

Today, I won't even plug in the iron if I can't find my flux first.

The hate for lead-free is wild.

Hey kids - don't listen to the old geezers (though I'm one too). Get lead-free and figure it out. It's really just about getting in reps, and caring about the results.

In my personal experience, leaded is maybe 5% easier.

If you're doing hobby level work, it is definitely not worth having lead around getting into and onto your other stuff and possibly being licked by kids or pets or whatever, and turning your projects into hazmat.

I respectfully disagree. I'm a mediocre hobbyist at best, I have cheap gear and use exclusively lead free solder/solderpaste without problems. The trick is to just use a lot of flux. I have a flux pen for hand soldering, and solderpaste usually has enough flux in it.