Nine years without spending any money

[eridani]

http://www.alternet.org/story/143122/48_year-old_blogger_has_gone_9_years_without_spending_money

Daniel Suelo wasn't poor, a victim of bad luck, mentally ill, or even uneducated. He just decided that he wanted to have nothing to do with money. So he gave up consumer culture altogether, and for the last 9 years, he's survived by living in a cave in Utah, and dumpster diving, foraging, fishing, and occasionally hunting for food. He spends his time in the great outdoors--and in the public library, where he blogs about it all.


Suelo must have the lowest carbon footprint of any blogger in the United States. And he's never taken food stamps or other government assistance, and despite what his lifestyle may lead you to believe, he's certainly not crazy. He's just got an aversion to money.

According to MatadorChange, he was working in South America when he was first moved to consider a money-free, zero impact lifestyle:

While in Ecuador on a Peace Corps mission, he witnessed a rural community acquire increased monetary wealth through farming and shift their traditional lifestyle towards a diet of unhealthy, processed food and a newfound addiction to television ... He made the conscious decision to return home, quit his job, and carve out a life without money.

[daedalus_dude]

1. He is lucky if he is in good enough health to pull that through.

If he ever needs a doctor his routine is screwed.

[eridani]

3. Very true. The chances of expensive illness are low, though

In every age demographic, 5% of the population accounts for all health care costs.

And what happens when items of capital equipment that he had to start with weear out? Still it's an interesting extreme case.

[MrModerate]

2. Secular sainthood never appealed to me. n/t

[seabeyond]

4. listened to him on bbc last week. works for him. nt

[shadowknows69]

5. I only ever wanted enough to survive. Maybe a creature comfort or two.

There was a short time in my life that my wife and I were bringind in some pretty good coin and generally it just made me a self destructive asshole much of the time.

[NoPasaran]

6. Living in a cave, foraging from dumpsters

Thanks, I think I'll wait for the Zombie Apocalypse to adopt that lifestyle.

[shadowknows69]

7. Fuck the cave. Go to the Mall.

Wait, no, that didn't turn out so well in "Dawn" did it?

[tama]

10. Cave's nice

Nicer than collapsing somewhere under the open sky and waiting for a tribe of Samaritans to come and build a house around where one collapsed. That would be the nicest thing, of course... :)

... and a nice edible forest garden around where food and medicin just offers itself with minimum trouble and toil. And all loved ones close by. And a nice view over the lake towards sunset and a good sauna. Nice.

[SoCalDem]

8. There are modified ways to do this as well..

You just have to decide to do without some things, cut back on others, and buy as little as possible.

Our income has had ebbs here and there, and you just have to adjust spending, and decide what's important to your family..

I have a friend who is technically "broke", but she would sooner cut off a limb before giving up that damned cell phone of hers..

I did get her to round-up her bills every month so that she builds up a credit here and there for when a car catastrophe happens &she's even broker.. at lest then her utilities cost a little less.

Americans will soon have to face the fact that shared-housing may be in their futures. That ONE expense, halved, would go a long way toward solvency.

My son and his wife were spending $1300 a month for a two bedroom apartment, and since they are now looking at houses, they put their stuff in storage rather than sign another lease, and have moved in with her parents. Paying her parents $500 a month helps them a bit, and allows the kids to save even more money for that down payment when they find a house to buy.

If a person makes $15 an hour, and has a 30 hr work week that only works out to be $1950 before taxes, per month (based on 52 weeks....no vacation time)

If you have a car payment & a student loan payment, it does not take a math-genius to see that rent will pretty much eat up everything that's left, leaving nothing for food, gasoline, insurance, daycare, etc..

If you use the 30% method, that would mean a rent payment of no more than $600...The 64K question is this.. where is a decent place to live, that inexpensive these days? Perhaps in the midwest or deep south, but then the $15 an hour wage will probably not be happening..

[tama]

9. Other similar people

I know couple others hereabouts who have made the big jump from urban background to gathering and gardening with no money or very little money. Here's an essay from Lasse Nordlund:

http://www.ymparistojakehitys.fi/susopapers/Lasse_Nordlund_Foundations_of_Our_Life.pdf

[Fla Dem]

11. Kudos to him for enjoying his lifestyle. But he may as well be a non-entity.

If he is educated and able he could be contributing to society in some way or manner. I saw no reference to what he does with his time, other than blogging. Does he volunteer for any worthwhile organization? He has no moral hesitation to taking advantage of the public library and the internet access provided by taxpayers.

I don't find his to be a worthwhile pursuit. If it suits him fine, but I just find it eccentric and not worthy of glorifying.

[Cleita]

12. Not as drastic, but my DH and I tried that for awhile by living in a trailer in

our forests. Although we were using his social security for income and buying food at the grocery, we were pretty much off the grid as we relied on solar panels and propane for what little energy we used for lights, the refrigerator and stove. The rub came when he became ill and the only way we could effectively communicate with doctors and family was by telephone, which forced us to get a cell phone. We found that doctors' offices didn't understand the concept that we couldn't be called back because we didn't have a telephone and we didn't have neighbors to take messages unless the deer and bears weren't telling us that they had telephones.

I wouldn't relish a money free existence, anyhow, since money is more portable that anything you might want to trade. I think busting down corporations, especially financial ones into smaller entities might accomplish what he is trying to do. There was a time when banks could only be chartered within states and couldn't open branches in other states. They also had limits to their services and were regulated to keep them honest.

[Generic Brad]

13. Correction - he spent taxpayer money

Internet in the library may seem like it's free, but somebody paid for the computer and internet connection to support his blog.

And although I support frugality, eating out of dumpsters is not an alternative that most of us would recommend. Besides, somebody else pays for the food he takes out of the garbage and eats because he is too cheap to purchase it for himself. Mr. Suelo sounds more like a parasite than a hero.