I currently work for something that may be called a "lifestyle business". I also did a lot of independent work. Got burned in a "serious business" twice, and it will be a long time before I touch one again.
The money isn't all that great, but it's not bad, either. I can literally afford pretty much anything I want, and my lifestyle isn't frugal. I can try a new, interesting wine at every dinner, if I feel fancy I can eat at a fancy restaurant and I travel a lot; not business class, but I don't really feel I need it, either, and the people I meet in a train are worth far more than a premium lunch. I have time for all my hobbies, I can go for a walk with my girlfriend any time I want, and I have a secure, healthy lifestyle. I have less money than a corporate employee, but I am a lot richer.
Quite frankly, I also found the working conditions to be a lot better. My first job in a large company was an utter failure due to the culture clash; I'd literally have nothing to do for weeks at a time while the corporate drones were stroking each other in the beginning of a project, and while many of my colleagues were at least competent programmers, most of them were utterly horrified of the idea of learning anything new (and this was actually a large, successful company, not some dotcom-boom crap). I had regular clashes with my superiors because I'd finish my tasks well before half the day was over, there was nothing else for me to do, but I couldn't go home, either (you can't log hours if you aren't there, can you?). The long decision chain, questionable technical competence in the upper layers and slow reaction, even when I only had just 2 or 3 hours of coding a day, I'd smoke through almost every task they had. Work would occasionally overcrowd before a deadline (though for some reason that only happened in the teams of some of the managers -- always the same ones), but other than that, the challenge level was so low I was eager to get the hell out of there just so that I can do my job.