A Very Long Gap
Since the time of my last post, I've been working on a project that's been taking up all of my time. I would love to have been writing about what I've been learning, but unfortunately I signed an NDA. Once the project launches in the next few months, I will be bragging about it to anyone who will listen. :-)
However, I have learned a lot about working as an independent contractor. I've discovered that the people who work at the New Mexico Department of Taxation and Revenue are incredibly helpful and friendly. They spent plenty of time on the phone with me making sure that I don't mess up my taxes. New Mexico has something instead of Sales Tax which is called Gross Receipts tax. It's basically just like Sales tax, but is also for services in addition to goods. Luckily, I don't have to pay Gross Receipts Tax on money that I make working for out-of-state vendors.
I've also become much more proactive about keeping track of my expenses and mileage. I have everything saved in Google documents that are split up according to fiscal year/GRT reporting periods. It makes me feel like a real adult now that I have a copy of Photoshop that I'm paying for myself.
In case you're wondering, the image I've included with this blog post is just a picture I took of leaves in my back yard that I edited with Photoshop.