Is freelancing lonely? Is the money bad? Yes and no. Every profession in the world - rock star, accountant, brain surgeon, actor, garbage collector or politician - can be lonely and have low income, depending on how you live and how you spend your money. I do not have an answer, except to tell you my own story: in all the years I was a freelancer I was never lonely, always busy, always having a good time and always meeting interesting people, and always making good money, and always putting my money into real estate, ensuring myself into a financially secure future.
Let me turn my own story into advice you can use, because the two fears in your question, loneliness and money, are real, and both can be managed.
On loneliness: the work only isolates you if you let it. A freelancer who sits at home all day waiting for the phone will indeed go quietly mad. The cure is to get out among people, which happens to be the same thing that gets you stories. Go to the interview in person. Drop into the newsroom. Have coffee with an editor. Join the press club, the local meetings, the events on your round. Do that and you will find, as I did, that freelancing throws you in with more interesting people than any office job ever could.
On money: the income is lumpy, and that is the real trick of it. A good month and a thin month even out over a year, but only if you plan for the thin one. So never spend a fat cheque as if next month is guaranteed. Put money aside for tax the day it arrives, keep a cushion for the quiet weeks, and when you are doing well, do something sensible with the surplus, as I did. Treat the freelance life as a business, not a lottery, and it can be both free and secure.
Lonely and broke, or busy and comfortable: the difference is mostly in how you run yourself.