Be Inspired: Living without money
Does money make us happy? Sometimes... and sometime not. (Find out why in this thoughtful article).
Have you ever wondered if you could live without money, or even why you may want to? Here we showcase some
people who have experimented in living it out, and learned much about freedom, generosity and what is actually possible.
> click the pic for main talk, and links below for more
Jo Nemeth, Koonorigan, Northern NSW
In a small Australian town called Koonorigan just outside of Nimbin lives a woman called Jo Nemeth. She quit her job, closed her bank accounts and decided to live without money. Jo explains how in the first year she often dealt with her inner critic, that part of herself that told her that she should be earning money, that her value and success was intrinsically linked to her financial successes.
Jo's blog » 1millionwomen article » Video » Interview »
Mark Boyle (UK)
Mark Boyle has lived completely without money for three years, an experience which formed the basis for his books, The Moneyless Man (2010) and The Moneyless Manifesto (2012). In this vid and TED talk he shows the social, personal, ecological and economic reasons to transition beyond money into a localised, gift-based economy. He is presently writing a series of fantastic articles for the Guardian on life without technology.
TED talk » Moneyless manifesto » Mark's 2017 Guardian column »
Tom, Sarah, and their daughter Neesa (New Zealand)
Tom, Sarah, and their daughter Neesa live in a tiny 20sqm off-grid cabin on a property on the Coromandel Peninsula, New Zealand. Instead of paying rent, they share the work of looking after the land with the owners, and both families share in the farm’s abundant produce. This is part of an amazingly inspirational series of short films on living simply entitled 'living the change' made by Happen Films.
Happen Films »More on living simply...
Voluntary simplicity
"Voluntary simplicity, or simple living, is a way of life that rejects the high-consumption,
materialistic lifestyles of consumer cultures and affirms what is often just called ‘the simple life’
or ‘downshifting.’ The rejection of consumerism arises from the recognition that ordinary Western-style
consumption habits are degrading the planet; that lives of high consumption are unethical in a world of
great human need; and that the meaning of life does not and cannot consist in the consumption or
accumulation of material things."
Find out more at Samuel Alexander's Simplicity Collective website.