Freelancing It

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Does anyone out there do freelance work, and how successful are you with it?

I've been working freelance for a while and sometimes have issues with it like not having insurance or barely making enough to scrape by some months, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. Sometimes I'll get friends tell me "such and such office/retail store/restaurant is hiring and you'd make more money working there" but I can't fathom why anyone would take such miserable jobs and hate it just to make an extra $500 a month. I get that money is necessary unless you want to end up homeless or dead, but why be such a slave to it?

I've only had 2 "normal" jobs in my life and they were so unbearable, I only lasted a few weeks on both. I don't normally feel that strongly about anything, but the thought of doing corporate 9-5 work, interacting with a bunch of people I don't get along with, and having as*hole managers/bosses breathe down my neck makes me almost physically ill. I still have nightmares about the 2 jobs I had before. Now I'm selling business leads online and plan to try and clean houses to make extra money, and people don't get why I would voluntarily choose to clean houses when I could take a retail job or something. But to me, freelance cleaning is like a dream job. I get to set my own hours, don't have any as*hole co-workers, and actually get to be productive rather than being at a desk or cash register and getting paid to do nothing.

Anyone else feel the same, and how do you cope with the downfalls of working for yourself?

I'd say you are definitely on the right track! I have always been a disaster working for and with others. And working for the average outfit, is full of soap opera gossip, social climbing, intrigues, and dramas, with work suffering for it all. I am currently disabled, but hope to start earning extra money from my writing. I wish I could do something else, like cleaning too, but my health won't permit that.

I completely hear you. I work part-time at a regular job, to ensure that I have enough money to pay rent, and make the rest of my money doing freelance work. On top of that, I do a good ammount freelance work (ghost writing, editing, web design, etc.). I definitely enjoy the latter, as I can do it according to my own schedule, so long as I get things in on time. It goes without saying that my total hours worked in a week oscillate between 30 and upwards of 90.

I've freelanced in the past, but I've struggled. I liked the schedule,but the cash flow sometimes dwindled. in part I was young, but I think, focusing, it can work.
Currently I have a day job,full time, it's what so far has worked FOR ME. and I also freelance from time to time. and some side projects (:

Reading what I wrote, I think I'm a workaholic...

For the past year I have been at temp jobs and working from home doing data entry and other clerical work for non-profit organizations. I left my former job, where I had worked for 3 years full-time, because the managers had begun to hire their kids/nieces/nephews and the place was starting to feel like a "mom and pop shop". Not very professional.

My work set-up is a good combination for me because the temp work stabilizes the cash flow when I have less at-home work. As a temp, I am almost never included in office politics or gossip. At home, my work environment is quiet and organized, and I am very productive and focused. I have found a niche in doing data entry from home, because it is a task that most people dislike and are eager to hand off to the first capable applicant. In my city, local non-profit orgs hire part-time contract clerical staff for things like fundraising drives and special events.

I have worked in offices as a permanent/full ltime employee in the past, and I may return to that in the future, but for now I am enjoying a bit of a break. My health is better because I get more exercise and I am not as stressed out. My home life is better because I spend less on transportation to work, and I save money on groceries becuase I do more home cooking (less take-away/prepared food). So all in all, its good - for now.

I’m currently doing data analytics freelancing which is going fairly well.

I’m almost always on the site of my employer, so the whole 9-5 thing applies. But not being a perm staff member means that I can ignore all the office politics, just do my work then go home.

For me, the most difficult things are:
* Actually getting work in the current recession. Not as many firms are hiring freelancers as they used to, so there is less work out there and more people looking for it. It’s also hard to know when to take a vacation, as I don’t know how long it will take to find another contract;

* Having to continually deal with recruitment agents. Some of them are very dodgy, but I have to play nice to get them to put my name forward to employers; and
* Never being anywhere long enough to get to know people properly. As I understand it, most post school friendships are made in the workplace.

I’m presuming the OP is in the US so in comparison, I don’t have to worry about health insurance and that sort of thing. I do worry about not having an income when I’m between jobs, and have resorted to telling people that I’ll take perm roles a couple of times, but something has always come along in time.

I like the variety of work that I wouldn’t get with a perm role and when you’ve got colleagues who rub you up the wrong way it’s easy to move on to another company.

The pay isn’t too bad either.