Jo Nemeth, an Australian woman, stopped using money in 2015 and says she has lived without it ever since. Before the change, she worked 20 hours a week as a community development worker in a small town in New South Wales but was still struggling to make ends meet. She had also become troubled by the environmental and human costs she believed were tied to consumerism. After reading about Mark Boyle, an Irishman known for living without money, she decided to try it herself. She now lives at the home of her longtime friend, Sharon, where she helps with gardening and outdoor work in return for accommodation. She also volunteers at a community garden, grows food, ferments produce and uses food that would otherwise be wasted. The household shares groceries, and Nemeth acknowledges she eats food bought by the people she lives with. She has also accepted gifts that cost money, such as help with bike repairs. Nemeth says she isn’t aiming for self-sufficiency. After major flooding in the Lismore area in 2022 disrupted local supermarkets, she said she got a sense of what collapse can look like, and she now argues that resilience comes from communities growing different foods and sharing them. She says she feels “an incredible sense of freedom” without the financial stress she once had, and that success depends on the secure relationships you have that hold you. She doesn’t suggest everyone should live this way, says it depends on a person’s circumstances and personality, and has said she may have to return to using money at some point.   submitted by   /u/uniladnews   to   r/Anticonsumption [link]   [comments]