Cave-Dwelling Blogger Hasn’t Spent Money in 9 Years
October 6, 2009 · Print This Article
Could you go nine years without spending a penny? It sounds pretty much impossible – how would you feed yourself, keep yourself safe from the elements? What about clothing and medicine?
Daniel Suelo consciously removed himself from the consumer lifestyle nearly a decade ago and hasn’t looked back. He lives in a cave in Utah and fishes, forages, dumpster dives and sometimes hunts for his food – and writes all about it on his website and blog from a nearby public library.
From MatadorChange, via Treehugger:
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.
The experience led Suelo on a spiritual quest that realized itself in India, where he was particularly moved by the Sadhus, wandering monks who renounce all money and possessions. He made the conscious decision to return home, quit his job, and carve out a life without money.
As he put it, “I simply got tired of being unreal. Money is one of those intriguing things that seem real and functional because two or more people believe it is real and functional.”
Essentially an extreme freegan, Suelo receives no government assistance and does not panhandle. He lives off the excess of American society, though the kindness of strangers helps a lot when he needs a ride, and he does use taxpayer-supported public libraries.
As Treehugger points out, Suelo probably has the lowest carbon footprint of any blogger in the world. Read more about his lifestyle and how he makes it work at MatadorChange and Suelo’s own website, Living Without Money.
Link [MatadorChange] via [Treehugger]
Photo: BBC World Service
- Liaison (theonelove.org)
- Join Forces
- Kathleen Cameron: We need action on all fronts... call to artistic arms!!!
Related Posts:
Does Money Make Your World Go Round?Holy $#@%! The Average American Family Wastes 122 lbs of Food Every Month
Confessions of A Greenwasher: Like an AA Meeting, but with More Guilt
What Stock Market Crash? Bush has $$ in the Bank.
U.S. Army Bases Going Green to Save Money
This is amazing though very few people could do this. Desertphile did something like this for 18 months in the Mojave Desert, one of the most inhospitable regions of the world, and he did it without eating other animals — Desertphile is a vegetarian.