Help me get a house for Christmas

View of the house from the front corner

I like to think of myself as a proud and independent man. I keep my word when I give it to people. I started a business fresh out of college on my own. I try my hardest to get things done without assistance. There’s a limit to how proud and independent one should be. Those qualities shouldn’t stop me from asking for help when I need it.

Today, I want to ask all of my blog readers, social networking friends, family, and charitable strangers if they’ll help make this Christmas the best of my life.

Over the past couple of years, I’ve been searching for a home to call my own. In particular, I’ve wanted a spot to start a small homestead. I recently found a perfect house with 2.1 acres of land.

Unfortunately, I have horrible timing. We’re right smack in the middle of the holiday season. Plus, self-employed people like myself have quarterly taxes due in mid-January. Purchasing this house will put me in a bit of a bind financially. But, you have to jump on a good deal when it presents itself.

Without going into every detail of the costs, I need to raise at least $2,000, but I really need more along the lines of $5,000 to cover everything.

Therefore, I’ve started a Crowdtilt campaign to see if I could come up with the necessary funds.

Pledges I make

I don’t like taking things without being able to give something back in return. What I’ve come up with is a list of promises that I’ll make for people willing to contribute. You are more than willing to contribute and not ask for anything in return, but here’s what I’m offering.

Contribute any amount

I will link to your site or social networking profile on a public thank you page.

Contribute $25+

I will write an in-depth tutorial on a WordPress-related subject of your choosing. Please keep this within reason (for example, please don’t ask me to write instructions to build a complete e-commerce plugin). If you want to submit a few different tutorial ideas and let me choose one, that’d be great.

Contribute $75+

You will be given a lifetime membership to Theme Hybrid.

Contribute $25 (family/friends)

I will provide a favor, chore, or whatever you need help with for one hour for every $25 you contribute. Well, I’d probably do this for no donation, but I could use the help.

Every $1,000

For every $1,000 in total contributions, I will volunteer and answer 50 questions on the WordPress.org support forums over the next year.

About the house

This is the perfect home for me. It is half a mile outside the city limits (Greenville, AL), so it’s on unrestricted land. This means that I can have a homestead without having to worry about breaking some weird rules. It also means that I’d be close enough to civilization to do all the fun things in life like eat out once in a while or go to the movies without having to make a “trip to town” as we southerners say.

The house was built in 1930 (with later additions). Aside from a couple of minor issues, the only things that need to be fixed are cosmetic. Here are a few details:

  • 1,400 square feet
  • 3 bedrooms
  • 2 bathrooms
  • Fireplace
  • Wood-burning stove setup
  • Carport

I honestly wasn’t looking for something this big, but it’s at a price that I can easily pay off in 15 years. It’d be nice to have my home and land paid for in full before I hit 45 years old.

The land has apple trees, a pear tree, a fig tree, and plenty of great gardening areas. It’s got a nice, long driveway so that I wouldn’t be right next to the highway.

The only downside to this house is that I wanted to find something a little closer to my parents, but it’s still only a 30-minute drive away from them. Plus, my grandparents and most of my family are within a 15-mile radius, so I’ll have a huge support group as I take on this new adventure.

Please help my Christmas wish come true

I know this is a tough time to ask for donations. It’s the holiday season. People are traveling. You all have gifts to buy for family and friends. But, if every person who reads this blog or all of my Twitter followers would donate just $1, it would more than cover what I need.

I would be eternally grateful for any help you could provide. Even if you can’t help financially, please tweet this to your Twitter followers or share on Facebook.

Thank you all in advance.

crowdtilt-contribute