One of the big flaws in our plans to build a house is the lack of a stash of cash to do it with. Kevin has a ‘housing fund’ that’s he’s saved up over the years, but it’s in US$, so although it amounts to a reasonable deposit in the States, here it’s not so useful. Personally, I’m still in debt from a previous failed business, so I’m not exactly rolling in it either. It’s the one aspect of self-building that I find most depressing, especially because Kev and I feel like in all other ways we’re doing OK for ourselves.
Of course, if we moved to North Wales or Illinois, then it would be relatively easy for us to afford to buy some land and build, but it’s not entirely clear what we would then do for work. Kevin’s an online journalist and innovator and my work is as a social media consultant, so both of us find our careers have us orbiting London whether we like it or not. And land in London is rare as rockinghorse road apples and equally as unaffordable. So what do we do?
In the long term, I think this means that our careers need to become non-geographical: we need to sever the ties to location that currently bind us to London. And that is one reason why I started Kits and Mortar, to see if it could become a commercial blog that would earn me a living. Just recently, though, I’ve had the idea put into my head that perhaps Kits and Mortar could not just provide me with a living, but perhaps it could even raise enough money to finance our build.
Is that madness? Crazy talk? I don’t know. But Kits and Mortar has taken the first step towards becoming a job instead of a hobby. I’m delighted to announce that we’ve been accepted by The Guardian* as a part of their extended blog network, and they’re now linking to us from their site:
I’m currently in the process of setting up my account with Adify, and soon we will be serving ads from their Environment inventory. This is very exciting and important, and for a blog that’s only eight weeks old it’s a real achievement. Nothing will change about the content, though - that will remain as over-excited and hyper-enthusiastic as it has always been!
* Note: For the sake of proper blogger transparency, I want to say that although Kevin works for The Guardian, this deal was hammered out without his input or involvement.
