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Tuesday 27 December 2016

Guide to how to live moneyless! (in the spirit of Gift Economy and Self-sufficiency)


Inspired in the "Moneyless" book of Mark Boyle, which I really recommend!

Moneyless guide Gift Economy / Living sustainable / Self-sufficiency

1- LAND
- you can grow even in small places like windowsills (for those in cities; see my posts from 2009)
- renting or borrowing land (for instance a friend or relative) / landshare
- using urban wastelands
- join an existing ecovillage (see gen-ecovillage.org, ic.org and eurotopia book)
- occupying ghost towns (especially if you have a good of friends)
- buy land (which is not a moneyless option)

2- HOME AND SHELTER
- home sitting / boat sitting
- house exchange
- living in house of friends (or borrowed for free)
- squatting
- caves
- abandoned blackhouses, farmhouses and ruins
- living in a caravan
- yurts and tipis (or even wild camping)
- natural constructed homes (earthships, strawbale, earthbags, roundhouses, subterranean, benders)

3-  FOOD
- grow your own (the easiest option for most; very easy to grow potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, corn, kale, onions, turnips, mustard greens, tomatoes, bush beans and amaranth)
- wild food and forage (see eattheweeds.com)
- catch roadkill
- guerrila gardening (especially in cities)
- skipping and dumpster diving (especially in cities)
- community orchards and gardens
    GARDENING
    - seed saving and swap (davesgarden.com)
    - swapping produce with friends
    - food forests, perennial vegetables (low maintainance) like berries, wild greens or fruit trees
    - leafcurf (from nettles, ramps, linden, alexanders, groudn elder and charlock)
    - growing eggs, honey and mushrooms
    - permaculture design (permies.com, geofflawtononline.com)
    - start your own compost, fertilizing with liquid comfrey or nettles
    - sheet mulching using dead tree leaves instead of digging, dense growing instead of weeding
    COOKING
    - cooking from scratch / become a vegetarian
    - use simple ingredients / buy in bulk (rice, cereals, vegetables, pulses are very cheap) 

4- WATER AND HYGIENE
- rainwater harvest
- well, boreholes and rivers
- solar shower
  HYGIENE
     - soapwort as natural cleanser (or mock orange or new jersey tea)
     - hyssop as natural deodorant
     - nurture skin with aloe vera
     - clean hair and skin: herbs soaked overnight (sage, yarrow, mint, rosemary)
     - hair cleaner: rye flour and boiled nettles (or rice flour or boiled linseeds)
     - soap: make lye out of rainwater and hardwood ashes, and add fats
     - toothpaste made of fennel seeds, cuddlefish bone, salt or baking soda
     - toothbrush made out of marshmallow roots, liquorice, neem or eucalyptus
     - mouthwash: boiled mint, anise, thyme, rosemary or lavender
     - cleaning your bum: water rising, newspaper, leaves, or even rocks
     - cut your own hair (or ask a friend)
     - cleaning the house: vinegar (make your own apple cider), baking soda, boiled herbs or salt
     - cleaning the dishes: wood ashes /  scrubber: luffa, a ball of dried grass or pine cones
     - wash your clothes: nearby sink or even river; use sun to dry, a mangle or wear them wet!
     - compost WCs (very easy to build) (see also my post in building your own greywater system)

5- TRANSPORTATION
- barefoot or moneyless shoes (made of recycled tires, plastic bags and carpet)
- hitchhiking (hitchwiki.org)
- liftsharing
- biking
- couchsurfing.com and trusting fate (people offering you accomodation)
- wild camping or bushcrafting (see "outdoor survival handbook" by Raw Mear)
- stay4free.com

6- ENERGY
- opensourceecology.org project
- solar charger
   LIGHTING
       - rapeseed oil candles or beeswax (storytelling, singing, games)
   COOKING
       - start a campire (keyhole fire)
       - rocket stove (elbowed flue pipe, 15kg olive cans, insulating material)
       - hay box (slow cooking)
       - earth ovens (for baking) (see "build your own earth oven" by Kiko Denzer)
    HEATING - putting extra jumpers or clothes
       - gas bottle wood burner
       - mansory oven (more complex)
       - solar heater

7- EDUCATION
- homeschooling
- alternative schools (barefoot college, steiner schools, montessori, small school, , sudbury, summerhill) (see "alternative approaches to education, a guide for parents" by Fiona Carme)
- freeskilling groups
- khanacademy.org, coursera.org, instructables.com 
- get a used mobile phone from friends/ get a computer through freecycle, trash or through friends
- use linux, skype, openoffice, hushmail, duckduckgo, truecrypt

8- OTHER TOPICS
     HEALTH AND SEX
      - Localised healthcare (herbalism)
      - Menstruation (mooncup, reusable pads)
      - Natural contraception (withdrawal method, combined with understanding of a woman cycle)
     CLOTHING
      - cloth swapping (see swishing.com), get from friends, go to a second hand shop
      - make your own, mend, knit your own clothes
      - freeshopping
      - make clothes out of hemp or nettles (but this requires skills)
      - pillows, out of reedmaces / duvets, out of wool
      LEISURE
      - make and play an instrument (for example make out of wood logs and roadkill skin)
      - painting (made out of marigolds, blackberries, poppies, clays, charcoal, chalk, rocks) / mushroom paper
      - street parties, games, performances, debate evenings, local groups, sports, movies...

9- CHILD RAISING
- breastfeeding instead of bottles
- no baby food, at six months combine breastfeeding with some cooked food
- get baby clothes from previous parents, friends or relatives
- co-sleeping with the baby (no extra bed)
- diapers (second hand, rewashable) / diaper-free (by understanding the clues of the baby)
- consider skipping non-essential healthcare and vaccinations (inform yourself, at your own risk)

10 - OPPORTUNITIES FOR SMALL INCOME
(but then you will be part of the system and not truly moneyless)
- unemployment benefits
- woofing, volunteering
- organizing workshops, teaching yoga
- making and selling handcrafts in local markets
- giving massages
- selling in ebay
- writting a blog and adding adsense
- writting and selling ebooks
- local garden work
- seasonal jobs (like fruit harvest)

Get rid of your debts! Potencially get rid of your TV or car!

11- PEOPLE LIVING MONEYLESS
- Mark Boyle
- Daniel Suelo
- Peace pilgrim
- Heidemarie Schwermer
- Elf Pavlik
- Tomi Astikainen
- Jurgen Wagner
.... (links to be added)

12- EXTRA RESOURCES:
- Freeconomy groups, Freegle (ilovefreegle.org), Freecycle.org (second hand stuff and toolsharing)
- GIFT CIRCLES and GIFT ECONOMY (information in soon)
- HelpX, Woofing, Volunteering
- LETS and Timebanks
- Swapaskill.com and Localskillswap.com
- Street freecycling (there are a lot of stuff that people put out in the streets for free to take)
- Book Swap (ReaditSwapit.co.uk and Bookmooch.com), booksharing clubs, Bookcrossing
- Papers and pens: inkcap mushrooms; molted wing feather; birch polypores or polyporus squamosus along with a mesh to make the paper / making recycling paper
- (more links to be added in soon)


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