A Queensland woman has revealed she has lived for two years without spending a single dollar.
Just over two years ago Jo Neemeth, 48, left her job, rental property, car and bank account and hasn’t looked back since.
She built a small mobile home from recycled building materials on a friend’s farm in northern NSW, built a vegetable garden and purchased solar panels with the last of her money.
Joe Neemeth (pictured) has no bank account, and doesn’t receive any welfare
Ms Neemeth now lives in a small mobile home (pictured) parked on farm properties or backyards where she trades the space for work
‘I look around at people living with money and struggling to make ends meet and it scares me,’ she told Today Tonight.
‘People have tried to give me money and I have turned them down very politely, I want to live without money.’
Before taking on her alternative lifestyle Ms Neemeth had a full time job and everything that went along with that including rent and bills.
But when she started struggling with the high stress of everyday life she decided to strip back to the essentials- food, water, shelter and clothes.
Her first step in going money-free was arranging with friends who agreed to have her live on their properties in exchange for growing vegetables, which she could eat too.
She swapped hot water for a shower with a bucket and a washing machine for hand washing.
Before finally closing her bank account Ms Neemeth purchased solar panels, and hasn’t received an electricity bill since.
‘It’s a very, very small system that’s just enough to charge my laptop and my phone and to run a light,’ she told the Courier Mail in June.
Ms Neemeth doesn’t have the luxury of the internet at home, but can use her mobile and laptop when she connects to WiFi at friends’ houses.
For food she relies on vegetable gardens she grows outside her mobile home. She also volunteers at organic markets in exchange for produce.
But Ms Neemeth admits eating without money can be hard, and sometimes she resorts to ‘dumpster diving’ at restaurants and cafes where she often finds perfectly good food.
Ms Neemeth wants to inspire other to consumer less and live a stress-free lifestyle
At her home now Ms Neemeth is building a small garden in exchange for food
‘I have approached shops/cafes at closing time, received free old vegetables at organics shops in the city and been given loads of free bread from hot bread,’ she writes on her blog Joloimpact.
Ms Neemeth wants to inspire others to consumer less and live s stress-free lifestyle.
‘I don’t expect other people to live without money, but I would really like other people to reduce their consumption a lot,’ she said.