Living Without Cash

Posted on 30 November 2009 by Stenberg-Tendys W.L. in Society

Mark Boyle, 30, celebrated the end of the year-long challenge by hosting a Freegan Festival at Hamilton House, in Stokes Croft, Bristol, where he cooked a free three-course meal for the public.

Boyle has lived for the past 12 months as a ‘freeconomist’, leading a self-sufficient lifestyle in a caravan in Timsbury, near Bath. He grows his own food and reuses junk that people have thrown away.

Boyle cycles everywhere, his phone only takes incoming calls, he has solar-powered showers and cleans his teeth with toothpaste made from washed-up cuttlefish bones. He either grows or forages for his food and gets his clothes from bins or from the Freecycle website.

Boyle, an Irish-born economics graduate and former businessman, blogs online about his life using a solar-powered laptop on wi-fi time he earns in return for carrying out odd jobs on a local farm.

Boyle said, “It’s been the happiest year of my life, and I will continue indefinitely, so I do not see any reason to return to a money-orientated world. It has been really liberating. It does have challenges but I do not have the stresses of bank accounts, bills, traffic jams and long hours in a job I don’t enjoy.” His priority is to re-use things that people throw out.”

Boyle, a vegetarian, now plans on promoting the Freeconomy movement through his blog and Freeskilling events to teach people how to live frugally.

The most difficult part of spending no money, Boyle said was not being able to socialize with his friends. “I have missed that aspect. Instead of going to the pub I make camp fires, play music or go for walks.”

Boyle abandoned his attempt to try to walk 12000km in a cash-free peace pilgrimage from Bristol to India, relying entirely on people’s goodwill and generosity. He gave up after a month of facing difficulties in France.

The question however remains, if everyone became a free economist, what would happen to the real economy? Mark has had a generous offer if he is prepared to write a book about his ‘freeeconomy’. For those genuinely living with very limited cash, take a look at the tribal people of the tropical islands of the South Pacific, such as Vanuatu.

Compartelo: