I assumed my money going up meant I got paid but a $ or something could have been nice, too.
I noticed that you start with 1 sword and materials to make 2 more so that is where the clicking starts from. The boxes you build are used only to make items. It turns out the background boxes are actually a key part of the interface and those show what your inventory actually is. You can also buy items from there as well.
I assume the master play is to buy the cheap items and build the more expensive ones.