Yes, I'm a freelance writer working solely from home according to my own schedule. I work for commercial businesses that hire me to write articles, blog posts, ebooks, etc.
I used to write for a number of content mills, like wiseGEEK, Quality Gal, Need-An-Article and a few others, but have since worked to build up my own list of personal clients who pay a lot more than $5, $10 or even $20 per article. The work has its pros and cons. Though I enjoy working from home and being my own boss, I find it necessary to regularly market myself in order to keep work orders at a constant. It's not an issue of finding a few clients and then just sitting back and doing the work. Budgets get cut, businesses move in another direction, companies go under, etc. When your income depends on clients and their business which is beyond your control, you're better off marketing yourself on a daily basis. Not so bad once you get used to doing so, but it's oh so necessary and can be time-consuming when first starting out.
I also get tired of writing on dry topics that I have very little interest in. Even if I'm interested when first starting, after a year or so of writing on any topic, you can become severely burned out. And for many topics, it doesn't take nearly as long.
Then there's the issue of health insurance and other benefits which don't exist and can be expensive to pay for on your own. I don't have an issue with that, but lots of freelancers do, so I'm just warning you in case you're the head of household or need to be concerned about this.
Now, with all of that out of the way, the good stuff is that I can do what I want to do when I want to do it. Sure, I have deadlines, but nothing too strenuous and all of my clients right now are very easygoing. I also set the pace for my business and do not ever allow a client to confuse me with an employee. If I don't like something, I have a say in it and can also opt out of an assignment if I just don't want to do it.
The pay is also pretty good. Like I said earlier, I started out working for content mills, so I acquired a good deal of experience in SEO and writing for the web, in general. By the time I decided to branch off and do my own thing, I knew what "my own thing" was worth and I asked for it. Now, I make between $50 and $250 an article (depending on topic, frequency and a few other things). While my rate is comfy for me for the time being, I know a lot of freelancers who scoff at my fees as they make a lot more. On the flip side, there are also freelancers making a lot less.
My advice for you or anyone else starting out is to build a site introducing yourself as a freelancer. On that site, include a copy of your resume, your writing specialties and your contact information. Doesn't have to be anything special, but it should be neat, easy to read and professional in appearance. Also include a page for samples. Either link to samples you've previously published or write fresh ones if you don't have any professional writing experience. Be sure to proof your site well and ask a few other eagle-eyed folks to look it over and give you feedback too.
After you've established your site, hit the pavement and begin looking for clients. Employment boards (sites like Problogger and FreelanceWritingGigs are good), Craigslist, local classifieds-- look everywhere. Also tell everyone you meet what you do or what you're trying to do and put a little word-of-mouth power to work. In the past, I've also set Google alerts so that I know right away when someone posts a "writer wanted" or "come write for us" message in the blogosphere. Even without an alert set though, you can do a pretty easy search for sites that are looking for regular writers or that are looking for submissions.
If you can find some of my old posts, I think I may have offered sites that hire freelancers or that teach how to become one. Sorry, but their exact names slip my mind right now. I do recall one being the Work At Home Mom Center and also the WAHM forums under bloggers or freelance writers. I'm not sure how many content mills are still around, but I'm sure that the ladies at the WAHM forum know about them if they exist.
Speaking of the Work At Home Mom Center, a recent post said they were looking for bloggers. It may be a good place for you to start:
http://www.workathomemomcenter.com/ever-considered-sponsored-blog-posts/
I've been busy and don't get to come here as often as I used go. But I hope my little bit of insight is useful and good luck!