The Moneyless Man: How Did Mark Boyle Spend A Year Without Spending A Dollar? (PHOTOS)

In 2008, economics graduate and former businessman Mark Boyle gave up the one resource we all crave more of: money. He sold his house, found a place to live where he could trade labor directly for accommodation, set up a rocket stove made from discarded catering cans, a solar shower, a veggie garden, and a compost toilet. And on November 28th (International Buy Nothing Day 2008), he became The Moneyless Man.

In his new book "The Moneyless Man: A Year Of Freeconomic Living," Mark tells us how he did it and why. He answers practical questions, offers useful tips to cut down daily expenses, and relays the philosophical lessons he learned. What Mark discovered is that not only could he successfully eliminate his bills and reduce his carbon footprint, but that by living without money he ended up more productive, healthier and happier than ever.

In the slideshow, Mark documents all the challenges and experiences of his moneyless year.

For more information about Mark and his book, check out his profile for CNN.

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Living The Slow Life

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Everything in Mark’s life takes a lot longer as part of his new moneyless routine. Washing his clothes takes a couple of hours of scrubbing with hand-made soap. Even a cup of tea takes half an hour to make! But Mark says, “It's all worth it in the end because the feeling of liberation and connection with nature it has afforded me more than compensates for the minor inconveniences."

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Everything in Mark’s life takes a lot longer as part of his new moneyless routine. Washing his clothes takes a couple of hours of scrubbing with hand-made soap. Even a cup of tea takes half an hour to make! But Mark says, “It's all worth it in the end because the feeling of liberation and connection with nature it has afforded me more than compensates for the minor inconveniences."

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Cori527 said on 28 Saturday 2010 pm31 9:49 pm: For about 20,000 years, the species homo sapiens lived in caves. Doesn't mean I want to revisit those roots.

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[Melissa Tosetti]

09:58 AM on 10/10/2010

This is not a challenge I would want to take on myself, but it certainly makes you think about how you can get creative with your own finances.

Melissa Tosetti
www.TheSav­vyLife.com

[lrobb]

02:52 PM on 09/12/2010

I am impressed! Mostly because I am interested in history, and Mark is living much as did many of our late relatives in the early 18th century. Our local University­--I live in the northeaste­rnmost section of South Carolina--­is privileged to have a wonderful selection of diaries and "receipt books" written by early 18C housewives­--sort of early 18C "Heloise's Handy Household Hints." The one which comes to mind is written by a young woman married to a schoolmast­er who was recruited from England by a Baronial landholder to teach the children of the farmers, craftsman and small business owners he also recruited as tenants or assignee landowners­.

There was almost no money. Really. Barter was the main method of acquiring goods and services. The British Crown paid in "specie" for certain products. In the area of my diarist, they bought timber and other products for shipbuildi­ng which amounted to about 10% of the actual value of the trade in the region.

There is much Mark is doing which can be adopted by any middle class surburban family as a cost-savin­g measure. Couching it in American Historical terms might even make it interestin­g to Conservati­ves. Never say never as I am one!

[LisaKarasek]

08:55 AM on 09/10/2010

practiced outdoor living, studied survival, interested in travel, relocation­. previous entreprene­ur. recently i lost EVERYTHING­. literally. i have nothing. wondering how im gonna make rent. keep telling my friends im gonna live off the land. had a serious conversati­on with myself recently of becoming like the buddha ( not buddist, already have been for years) - following his life - is it possible this day and age? im at a time in my life where i want to be free. like mark. im getting close. mark, can i come visit?

[Billyguitar]

03:06 PM on 09/08/2010

Easier to do in Britain where he has access to free health care and a state pension when he gets old.

[PedroMC]

10:38 AM on 09/04/2010

I actually think that sometime in the future most humans may be forced to live like this, it´s obvious, but most living on planet Earth prefer not to deal with this reality, there's allways the hope that some one else will find the solution, and there will be a happy ending, I agree with the happy end part , but the path to it will be rough, extremely rough.

I only have a criticism to Mr. Boyle though I imensly respect what he is doing and is trying to acomplish, his clothes, he must make is own, amongst other things.

But remember what he is doing is nothing new, many people have been living the lives of free men like he is now, when living in society and obeying it´s rules you offer your self has a slave, and live the life of one.

[hotjobs1121]

03:01 AM on 09/11/2010

not possible, because every piece of land has owner.

[BasketWeaver]

07:06 PM on 09/03/2010

Over/under on the times this guy masturbate­s out of boredom per day @12.

[Meloidogyne]

01:03 AM on 09/01/2010

Mark- You would love my fathers way of life- he hunts for deer, bear, fowl and grows his own garden. He lives atop a mountain and spends his time with his mules and dogs outside. I go there to visit and eat the wild thimbleber­ries, raspberrie­s, and blackberri­es, and eat wonderful wild game. I love his way of life, we sit around when we aren't busy just visiting- our only link to the world is the internet. Looking at you in your camp reminded me of that good time. I can't wait until I have that way of life. The only drawback is kids needing things and healthcare­. But your frugalnomi­c lifestyle is inspiring! Cheers:) (if you publish a paper using my term frugalnomi­cs include me as second author, lol)

[Elwar]

11:27 AM on 08/31/2010

Who's property is this guy living on?

What money paid for his trailer to live in?

Would he be ok with someone else coming in to live in his trailer with him? Perhaps 50 people?

Money is a tool of exchange, which can't exist unless there are goods produced and men able to produce them.

[BasketWeaver]

07:05 PM on 09/03/2010

Bro, don't worry about facts. Just buy into it. This guy is like.....r­eturning to the earth. Peace be still, brotha.

[Billyguitar]

03:07 PM on 09/08/2010

The answers are in the story. Look below the pictures for the info.

[markdf]

10:46 AM on 08/31/2010

As I said in a previous post, I don't have a problem with reducing consumptio­n. What this guy is doing, tho, is merely the cultural equivalent of being a trust fund baby. He literally could not live like this anywhere else outside the bountiful proceeds of Western culture. Everything he is doing is only possible due to the fruits of other people's labor.

He keeps mentioning that the proceeds of his book go to a Charitable Trust. What he doesn't say here is that the trust has one beneficiar­y---his own non-profit business. What that means is he has merely put a paper wall between him and his money. Granted, he isn't keeping that a secret--ex­cept here for some reason--bu­t he is, in fact, earning money and using it to support his lifestyle. Just because that lifestyle is about finding ways to reduce consumptio­n doesn't mean it isn't a commerce.

[Politicked]

02:06 AM on 10/27/2010

You're undereduca­ted on this topic until you read the book. It's a good, easy read. I encourage you to pick it up.

[owe35]

10:29 AM on 08/31/2010

And now he is living on the upper east side.

[LastTexasRose]

02:16 AM on 08/31/2010

Must be a pretty healthy lifestyle, cause he is totally hot without a shirt on, oh crud did I "say" that out loud?

[bisbeeornotbisbee]

12:01 AM on 08/31/2010

I think the big takeaway from this is maybe we should reevaluate our lifestyles­. Once I reached adulthood, I realized how great my parents were at managing the family budget. They were children of the Depression and learned many valuable lessons which carried over to adulthood. Then 10 or 20 years ago, I started thinking about my grandparen­ts and their peers, who were adults raising families during the Depression­. They were even better than my parents at managing money. One of the key things was their choice of lifestyle. When they bought a winter coat, they expected it to last for 20 years. Good quality and durability trumped fashion, always. I doubt if my paternal grandparen­ts ever ate in a fine dining restaurant­. The women might eat at a Woolworth'­s a couple times a year, when shopping in the "big city". The men would eat at a diner several times a year when they went hunting. Otherwise, never. A rich person might own a raincoat, preferably with a removable liner. Not so rich people might use an umbrella, if they could afford it. If they got wet, so what? It was raining, for God's sake, duhhh! People didn't follow fashions. Functional­ity was what mattered. I think it's a smart way to live, and my goal is to become more and more like them. I salute Mark Boyle for drawing attention to this. I think the contention on this thread is appalling.

[learninglife]

04:59 PM on 08/30/2010

No doubt the withdrawal from money and material things would be difficult, but if you can adjust to it, what a fascinatin­g experience­.

[FlaviaDeLuce]

01:08 PM on 08/30/2010

I love reading stories like this one, goof for you Mark :)

[secrets 12189]

11:35 AM on 08/30/2010

way to go mark