VAT

I don't have to register for VAT, until I make a certain amount of money, but I could voluntarily register for it if I wanted. I thought this would be a good idea because it would cost me less to get things printed. However, I now think I was wrong.

let's say it costs £10+VAT for me to get my calendars printed. that would be £12.50 at the moment, I think. If sell them for £20, then I would have to pay the VAT on profit. it wouldn't lead to the printing being any cheaper. therefore there's no advantage in volunteering for it.

all of this makes my calendars seem AWFULLY expensive.

registered

I've officially registered as self-employed, and applied for a separate bank account with smile. I haven't applied for any special status wrt to VAT and National Insurance yet; that may require some more thought

also, the powerleague might be interested in me taking some photos of their games after I sent them these photos of my game:

and I finished reading "Contemporary Wedding Photography" by Julie Oswin, which gave me a few ideas, some of which I'll ignore

sabbatical

I've officially applied for a sabbatical from the 1st of august until the 12th of october. we'll see if it's accepted.

a glut of updates.

things have been on a bit of a hiatus while I looked into the pension ramifications of taking a sabbatical. this took a ridiculously long time. it would seem that for most of my pension it wouldn't matter too much, and so I'm probably going to apply tomorrow.

one thing I forgot to mention the last time was that i sent my facebook/macbeth thing to a publisher in wales (they published a book in email format which i read a couple of years ago) who said to finish it and submit it. i sent them the existing bit because I don't want to spend ages finishing it if they don't like the idea. i haven't heard anything since.

i took photos of my friend Sonia's niece, Orla . I had great fun doing it (including saving the baby when it dived head-first off the couch). Her mum took a pile of business cards, and I've already had one approach about a wedding, and heard rumours about another (in Peterhead of all places).

I also met up with Colm and Catriona, who's wedding I'm doing in September, which made me feel awfully professional. And they were very easy to get on with, so I'm not worried about the wedding photos at all.

Today, I discussed selling prints in the windows of TV lawyer Austin Lafferty's offices. Which wasn't something I saw coming.