working all day and night, you can earn a ticket to the nuthouse.
working freelance alone — it all depends on your ability to sell, but freelance only in the case if you can earn more or the same amount as in the office.
depends on the country, Minsk NORMAL programmer not less than 1k, in Kiev a little more in the Peter 1.5-2k in the 2k. The upper border is no longer dependent on programmers ' skills, but 3-4k is the people, if well versed in business processes or holodah, probably even more.