Making the move to full time freelancer!

Hi all

I'm just writing this thread to get a bit of advice from fellow freelancers who have been in the same position as me and taken the plunge to full time freelancing.

I currently work for a publishers and have been here nearly 2.5 years in the design studio, i'm finally reaching the end of enthusiasm here as all the work is very "samey" and i don't have any creative freedom to do new designs. I'm looking at doing what i've always wanted to do and move into full time freelancing, but i'm not 100% on the best way to proceed.

My plan at the moment is to save up £2-4k in the next 3/4 months so that I can quit my job and have money to pay for my bills/rent for the following 2-3 months afterwards.

My big worry is finding clients, because of the company i'm currently at i can't try to "poach" clients due to it mostly being in house etc, so i'd be starting from scratch pretty much. I mean i've done part time freelance jobs one off things for people such as logos/stationary etc but i've never attempted to make freelancing my full time job.

So my question to people who have done this or similar to this is:
How did you get your clients when you went full time? What did you do, how did you find them? How did you approach them? Big question is, Do you regret it, would you prefer to go back to working for a studio?

I have a web folio up at the moment which i have been updating (updating it this afternoon actually) and in the next 3-4 months it will be jam packed with more work ready to take the full time plunge.
I already have started compiling a list of local companies to me I can ring and approach for any new designs/branding etc, I just need to figure out how to approach them properly, without sounding like an annoying salesman!

Thanks for reading,
Adam