MEET THE MAN WHO LIVED WITHOUT MONEY FOR A YEAR (photo)

Irishman Mark Boyle tried to live life with no income, no bank balance and no spending. Here’s how he finds it.

Mark Boyle in his farm 

First he made a list of the basics he would need to survive. He said 'I adore food, so it was at the top'. So for food I would grow my own crops, gather good waste food.

On my first day I fed 150 people a three course meal with waste food. Most of the year I ate my own crops though and waste only made up about five per cent my diet. I cooked outside – rain or shine – on a rocket stove.

Next up was shelter. So I got myself a caravan , parked it on an organic farm I was volunteering with, and kitted it out to be off the electricity. I’d use wood to heat my humble abode in a wood burner made from an old gas bottle.

I bathed in a river, and for toothpaste I used washed up cuttlefish bone
. For toilet roll I’d relieve the local newsagents of its papers (I once wiped my arse with a story about myself); it wasn’t double quilted but it quickly became normal.

For transportation To get around I had a bike and trailer, and the 55 km commute to the city doubled up as my gym subscription.

For lighting I’d use beeswax candles.

His final verdict: I have found this year to be the happiest of my life. I’ve more friends in my community than ever, I haven’t been ill since I began, and I’ve never been fitter. I’ve found that friendship, not money, is real security. That most western poverty is spiritual. And that independence is really interdependence.

 can you try this??...