I was reading this guy’s blog. http://zerocurrency.blogspot.com/ He’s a fellow that lives without money, partly as a spiritual practice.
It’s a place I might be heading one of these days. I’ve been attracted to the idea for a long while.
However, I don’t like being hassled. And if you have no money and take a pizza out of the dumpster, apparently the cops bother you. Also when I go to sleep I don’t want someone to say to me, “Hey! Hey! you can’t sleep here.” I hate that.
He doesn’t seem to mind people. So much of my happiness is dependent on blissful solitude and not being hassled by people…. but maybe someday.
I thought what he had to say was interesting. He is still kind of beholden to money, though. He had a story about finding a $20 bill near a stream and picking it up and finding that now he had to figure out what to do with it. If he really was living a spiritual no-money existence, he would have been able to walk past the money and let the next tide wash it out to sea.
I met Dan Price once. He lives in a little house he built under ground like a hobbit hole.
http://www.galfromdownunder.com/dan-price/
I have a similar tricycle and we went riding together with a friend. Meeting him was when I started getting the idea that maybe someday I could live like that. But I dismissed the idea immediately.
Now, since hiking the PCT, I think about Dan and how he lives on only $5000 a year and I want to be like that someday, too. Just enough of a foot in the normal world to have interesting things to do, but with an interesting dwellingway and no pressing need for money.
Rather than zero money, the lack of a pressing need for money is what I’m searching for.
I would think he could live on less but I’ve never tried. Maybe one year I will see how little I could live off of—kind of ease into it.
I think to really make progress, a person needs to give up all possessions and attachments. I’ll get there.
That’s weird that you and him both have recumbent trikes…I have been looking at those recently. Probably best to stick with walking though, less stuff; less hassles.
I think the best way is to earn enough money to set yourself up somewhere, then after that all you have to do is make enough money to pay the rates.
Le Loup.
Yeah, that’s a good way to do; that’s what I’ve done. It’s just that I’ve found everything I give up enhances my life. Less really is more.
It’s really about giving up your attachment to having things a certain way and to your stuff.
I’ve met many people who say they are living simply who have as great attachment to their stuff as a rich person. They collect junk just like rich people collect stuff. They basically are just doing the whole consumerism thing only without money.
I think giving up money would be a trek into spiritual wilderness. You really wouldn’t know how it would change you or what you would discover until you did it.
I wish I could get rid of more of my things. I look at the clutter and am overwhelmed. The only thing I seem able to do is eliminate it from my mind, pretend it’s not there.
Trikes are a lot of fun. I think if I were to bicycle across america I would do it on a trike. You can go very slowly on a trike. No hill is too steep because you can’t fall over.
I live in a big city – Los Angeles. I’m always amazed when I see homeless people with shopping carts (and sometimes multiple shopping carts) filled with “stuff”. Nothing would be more obvious to me than my attachment to things if I was required to push them around downtown L.A.
I have a friend who lived without money for 2 years. I don’t think he spent any money at all during that time (but I could be wrong) he lived on day old pastries from a bakery and I’m sure all of that white flour and sugar could not have been good for him, but he’s still around.
So much of what I spend money on is “self perpetuating” in other words, I have a job, which requires a vehicle, which requires gas, and the job means I need a cell phone too, and clothes, so I need a closet, which means I have to rent an apartment, it just goes on and on. When I was on the trail I didn’t need any of that stuff, and I was happier than I’ve ever been in my life.
I was amazed at how little money I needed once I quit working.
Now all I need is good view, a hot beverage, and a bowl of oatmeal and I’m satisfied.
Also when I worked there were a lot of things I wanted. Now, I have everything I want.
I think the important mindset to have when giving up money would be: trust that everything you need will be provided. It’s a good mindset to have even if you have money.