Live without money? Huh? In a world where financial transactions dictate daily life, the idea of living without cash, credit, banking, etc… seems impossible (and totally preposterous). Yet, individuals like Jo Nemeth and Mark Boyle have embraced an existence completely outside the financial system. And, they found security (near-term anyway) and fulfillment in ways that challenge conventional wisdom.
Living Without Money: Meet Jo Nemeth and Mark Boyle
This post is not about people who are living off savings or government assistance. It isn’t about people who can’t find a job. This is about two separate individuals who made a conscious choice to live without money.
Jo Nemeth, a 56-year-old in Australia, chose to abandon money in 2015. She was inspired by Mark Boyle’s book The Moneyless Man: A Year of Freeconomic Living.
Nemeth gave up her job, closed her bank account, and focused on self-sufficiency. She grew up on a farm and with the ethos of frugal living. She now grows her own food, participates in gift economies, and exchanges skills and labor instead of relying on financial transactions. Surprisingly, she says she feels more secure now than when she was earning a salary.
Boyle’s three year-long experiment in living entirely without money in Ireland was inspired by his concerns about consumerism, environmental sustainability, and modern dependence on financial systems. He embarked on a radical lifestyle change to see if if was possible to meet his needs without spending a single cent. He relied on bartering, foraging, and skill-sharing to meet his needs, demonstrating that an alternative to consumer-driven living is possible.
It’s a huge contrast to most people’s lives
As I write this story, I am acutely aware that I am burning money just sitting here. The lights are running and internet is working and it is all going onto a bill somewhere. My mortgage payments – I don’t want to even calculate what my house costs each minute – are enabling me to be inside and away from the rain. And, for every bit of income I make, some will go to taxes. I am not actively spending a cent, as I type, but I am passively spending quite a lot.
How Did They Do It?
Here’s a rundown of how Boyle and Nemeth managed to live without money:
Housing
Boyle bartered labor for a place to build his home, a shelter he built using reclaimed materials. Nemeth bounced between different housing situations before landing in a home with friends where she trades cooking, cleaning and other household tasks for a place to stay.
Food
Both Boyle and Nemeth were able to eat and barter by growing their own food, foraging, and occasionally relying on dumpster diving for discarded but edible meals as well as clothing and other valuable stuff.
Healthcare
Natural remedies, herbal medicine, and preventative care are the primary health plans for these two examples of living without money.
Although Nemeth does require dental surgery which she is planning to fund through charity and trade. She told The Guardian: “I’d been planning to teach people how to make tofu or apple scrap vinegar, share my skills, then a friend suggested I set up a GoFundMe campaign to create a dental fund and offer how-to lessons as rewards, so that’s what I’m going to do.”
Transportation
Both Boyle and Nemeth bicycle for getting around. Boyle refused cars and public transportation but Nemeth is not opposed to hitchhiking when necessary.
Communications and Technology
Nemeth has a cell phone but no cell plan. She relies on library WIFI to stay connected when necessary – mostly to stay up to date with the bartering and freecyle economies that are thriving in social media. Whereas Boyle avoided phones and the internet, living disconnected from digital life.
Benefits from and Lessons for a More Sustainable Life
While most people can’t—or wouldn’t want to—eliminate money entirely, Nemeth and Boyle’s experiences reveal practical lessons anyone can apply to some extent to their own lives.
Even if you live a conventional economic life—earning, spending, and saving—there are valuable insights to be gained from those who live without money. Understanding their experiences can challenge assumptions about financial security, consumerism, and what truly brings fulfillment.
A strong community can provide support, resources, and skill-sharing opportunities that reduce reliance on money. Whether it’s carpooling, swapping services, or joining a local food co-op, relationships can be as valuable as cash.
Nemeth told the Guardian: “I actually feel more secure than I did when I was earning money because all through human history, true security has always come from living in community and I have time now to build that ‘social currency’. To help people out, care for sick friends or their children, help in their gardens. That’s one of the big benefits of living without money.”
2. Reducing Waste
Nemeth and Boyle emphasize reusing, repurposing, and reducing consumption. Adopting a minimalist mindset—buying only what you truly need—can lead to significant savings and a greater appreciation for what you already have.
3. Alternative Economies
There are several popular alternative economies that challenge traditional money-based transactions, focusing instead on sharing, bartering, and mutual aid. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the most well-known ones:
- Freecycle: This is a global online network where people give away and receive free items instead of throwing them away.
- Buy Nothing groups:These are local groups, typically organized on Facebook or via the Buy Nothing app
- Craigslist: You might know the site as a place to buy and sell used stuff. However, you can select “barter” in the menu on the left-hand side of the screen and narrow the search to people who are willing to trade in exchange for goods or services.
4. Self Sufficiency: A Different Kind of Security
From growing your own food to making household repairs, practical skills can save money and reduce dependence on outside services. Even small steps, like cooking from scratch or learning basic sewing, add up over time.
Both Nemeth and Boyle discovered that true security isn’t about having more money—it’s about knowing how to meet your needs in creative and sustainable ways. By building resilience through skills and community, financial freedom can come in many forms.
5. A Sense of Play
Both Boyle and Nemeth approach their unconventional, money-less lifestyles with a sense of playfulness and adventure. Rather than viewing their existence as one of deprivation, they seem to embrace it as a creative challenge—an experiment in freedom and ingenuity.
Boyle said in an interview, “Like no other period in my life, I felt fully alive. Having spent most of my life worrying about the future or regretting the past, I was living in the moment, day to day.”
6. A Connection to the World
For Boyle, living without money meant stripping life down to its essentials, forcing him to interact with the natural world in a direct and intimate way. Without the buffer of money to solve problems, he had to develop a deep awareness of his environment—learning how to forage, grow food, purify water, and navigate the land around him.
He describes feeling more in sync with the seasons, the land, and the natural cycles of life, freed from the distractions of consumer culture. In giving up modern conveniences, he paradoxically gained a more immediate relationship with the world, relying on instinct, observation, and resourcefulness rather than financial transactions.
A Big Downside to Living Outside the Monetary System? Planning for the Future
Living without money offers freedom from financial stress and consumerism, but it also comes with significant challenges—especially when thinking about the need to plan for the future. Afterall, money is what enables you to transfer some of your human capital to future spending through saving and investing.
Without savings, stable housing, or guaranteed healthcare, long-term security becomes uncertain. As people age or face health issues, relying on bartering, foraging, and communal support can become more difficult.
We think planning is not only important, but necessary. Use the Boldin Planner to map out your future security today – with or without including some of the lessons from people who live without money.