I blogged a while back about the possibility of living money free, drawing on two examples of two people who did so, but by effectively withdrawing into an off-grid, rural lifestyle.
However, it is possible to live money free in the city too, and below are two examples of people who’ve done just that….
Elf Pavlick
Elf Pavlik gave up money in 2009 after he had come back to Europe from San Francisco. In California he had been working for a highly competitive internet company that was mainly trying to compete with other companies, without really producing anything to make people happy. He decided he had enough of that and started living in nature for a while and he tried to give up money.
He lives an urban lifestyle, relying on other people to feed him and give him a bed or some floor space, and relying on discarded clothes. He walks or cycles most places, but does occasionally take public transport, and wears a 'no ticket' label when he does, which explains that he lives without money. He does work with other people, but only on collaborative projects, preferring to co-create rather than somebody paying him and telling him what to do.
Twitter seems to be Elf's social media domain of choice where he describes himself as living moneyless and stateless and links to hackers4peace, zerowaste, polyeconomy and (interestingly) the world peace game.
Carolien Hoogland
A more mainstream version of a monleyless living’ experiment is Carolien Hoogland's year without money which she undertook because she wanted to be freer in the work she did... She spent sixth months planning her experiment and wrapped up her wallet on New Year’s Eve 2009-10 and commenced a year of money free living.
She arranged barter arrangements with her local dance school, electricity company and local cafe – she got her goods/ services for free and did free-work for them in exchange. She also cooked once a week when friends would bring food to share. She found that her life was more social and connected than ever in her 'economy of relationships' which also gave her a feeling of existential security.
NB she wasn't technically money free, she maintained health care, splurged on ice creams once for her friends, and she also lived with her partner, so I'm sure he paid for the rent etc, but I think this is worth mentioning because it's probably more manageable for most people, but I've included this here because I really liked the idea of just getting in contact with companies and bartering with them, definitely outside the box.
Why I wrote this post
Really I'm just looking for inspiration for when I quit work later this year in August... inspiration for how to 'live well with less' if you like!
If you want to find out more about moneyless living I suggest checking out https://moneyless.org/ - A site set up by two people who have lived on very little money for many years of their lives.
Image Sources
(1) http://it.moneyfree.party/inziative/
(2) http://www.genoeg.nl/nieuws/nieuwsarchief/inhoudsopgave-genoeg-86/
The first image is my own.