It's no secret that times are getting tougher and tougher for everyone. With everything that’s been happening – from bills to groceries going up in cost – it's becoming increasingly hard to budget expenses.

But one Australian woman is taking ‘watch your spending’ to a whole new level.

Jo Nemeth, from northern NSW, revealed how she hadn’t spent a single cent in eight years amid the cost-of-living woes impacting the rest of the country.

Ms Nemeth quit her job in 2014 because she felt that she was ‘harming someone’ every time she spent her money.

In her blog, she explained how she has been living a ‘low-impact, money-less life since March 2015’.

‘I will continue living without money for as long as I can, and I will continue to live low-impact for the rest of my life,’ she stated.

Ms Nemeth wrote: ‘While living as low-impact as this is not for everyone, I strongly encourage people to reduce their personal footprint as much as possible.’

Ms Nemeth shared that she’s been living a debt-free life since 2015. Credit: maitree rimthong/Pexels

Over the years, Ms Nemeth has lived with two families with free board and food – in exchange, she said she looked after their kids and did their chores and gardening.

She also said she uses leftover napkins her friends have supplied her to use as toilet paper. These same friends also gave her the end bits of their toothpaste for her to use.

At one point, Ms Nemeth lived in a shack and cooked her meals out of a stove she built herself using bricks.

However, because of her unorthodox views, she had to break up with her partner because they were not on board with her low-impact lifestyle.

‘That was very challenging. He was not interested in this kind of life…So, we had to part ways. And that was very, very hard and sad.’

Speaking to Andrew Bucklow, the host of the podcast I’ve Got News For You, Ms Nemeth said that this was ‘not the life many people would probably want’.

‘But it really matches me and my personality perfectly. I’m a homebody; I love to garden; I love to be in nature. All of those things are free, mostly,’ she said.

Ms Nemeth also explained that she made the massive change after learning about the negative impact her purchases were having on the world.

‘When we buy something in Australia, it often has a footprint that affects lives all over the world. And it really was just getting too much for me, it struck home really strongly that every time that I was spending money on anything, I was potentially harming other people and other environments all around the world,’ she said.

Jo explained how she quit her job to live a low-impact life. Credit: jolowimpact/Instagram

She added that at one point, it just became ‘too much’. ‘I was reading a book, and I read about a man in the UK who had decided to choose to live without money. And when I read that, I was just like, it was my answer,’ she shared.

The man is Irishman Mark Boyle. Mr Boyle lived money-less in the UK for three years. He also has been living without modern technology since 2016.

He’s a regular writer for the British newspaper The Guardian and is a published author as well.

Recalling her first few years of living a low-impact lifestyle, Ms Nemeth shared how she moved in with a family who lived on a farm in exchange for tending to their orchard. She said she lived in a recycled hut that they constructed for free at the time.

To cook her meals, she constructed a cooktop out of bricks, also known as a rocket stove.

Ms Nemeth explained: ‘A rocket stove is basically a little stove that you can build yourself and use twigs and sticks to burn, so you don’t have to have actual proper firewood you can just use anything that you like, find lying around on the ground.’

In 2016, Ms Nemeth then moved to a second house. This time, the house belonged to a friend whose husband sadly passed away.

During this time, Ms Nemeth babysat her friend’s kids. She’s been living there ever since.

She also denied that she was a freeloader.

‘I don’t think I’m freeloading. What I’m doing is instead of exchanging money for my accommodation, I’m exchanging my skills and my time. So, it’s just a different method of exchange,’ she described.

Key Takeaways

• Jo Nemeth, an Australian woman from northern NSW, hasn't spent any money in eight years.
• Ms Nemeth has lived with two families, offering childcare and home services in exchange for housing and food.
• She has built a self-sufficient lifestyle, constructing her own cooktop and using recyclables to make a living space on a farm.
• Despite challenges, including ending a relationship, Ms Nemeth does not regret her choice to live a life without money.

What are your thoughts on Ms Nemeth’s low-impact lifestyle? Share them with us in the comments below!

 

[Lopeli]

Good on her. Each to their own.

 

[RTS]

Bartering services for room and board is almost the same as working for an income to pay for rent and food.
Money is just a means of exchange, which is easier to use when more than two parties are involved in transactions.

 

[Macarj]

Good on her though I know I couldn't do it I like things and you have to pay for things

 

[Marj53]

I couldn't do it. Couldn't help wondering what she does for clothes and sanitary products.

 

[NotNats]

It's no secret that times are getting tougher and tougher for everyone. With everything that’s been happening – from bills to groceries going up in cost – it's becoming increasingly hard to budget expenses.

But one Australian woman is taking ‘watch your spending’ to a whole new level.

Jo Nemeth, from northern NSW, revealed how she hadn’t spent a single cent in eight years amid the cost-of-living woes impacting the rest of the country.

Ms Nemeth quit her job in 2014 because she felt that she was ‘harming someone’ every time she spent her money.

In her blog, she explained how she has been living a ‘low-impact, money-less life since March 2015’.

‘I will continue living without money for as long as I can, and I will continue to live low-impact for the rest of my life,’ she stated.

Ms Nemeth wrote: ‘While living as low-impact as this is not for everyone, I strongly encourage people to reduce their personal footprint as much as possible.’

View attachment 16886

Ms Nemeth shared that she’s been living a debt-free life since 2015. Credit: maitree rimthong/Pexels

Over the years, Ms Nemeth has lived with two families with free board and food – in exchange, she said she looked after their kids and did their chores and gardening.

She also said she uses leftover napkins her friends have supplied her to use as toilet paper. These same friends also gave her the end bits of their toothpaste for her to use.

At one point, Ms Nemeth lived in a shack and cooked her meals out of a stove she built herself using bricks.

However, because of her unorthodox views, she had to break up with her partner because they were not on board with her low-impact lifestyle.

‘That was very challenging. He was not interested in this kind of life…So, we had to part ways. And that was very, very hard and sad.’

Speaking to Andrew Bucklow, the host of the podcast I’ve Got News For You, Ms Nemeth said that this was ‘not the life many people would probably want’.

‘But it really matches me and my personality perfectly. I’m a homebody; I love to garden; I love to be in nature. All of those things are free, mostly,’ she said.

Ms Nemeth also explained that she made the massive change after learning about the negative impact her purchases were having on the world.

‘When we buy something in Australia, it often has a footprint that affects lives all over the world. And it really was just getting too much for me, it struck home really strongly that every time that I was spending money on anything, I was potentially harming other people and other environments all around the world,’ she said.

View attachment 16887

Jo explained how she quit her job to live a low-impact life. Credit: jolowimpact/Instagram

She added that at one point, it just became ‘too much’. ‘I was reading a book, and I read about a man in the UK who had decided to choose to live without money. And when I read that, I was just like, it was my answer,’ she shared.

The man is Irishman Mark Boyle. Mr Boyle lived money-less in the UK for three years. He also has been living without modern technology since 2016.

He’s a regular writer for the British newspaper The Guardian and is a published author as well.

Recalling her first few years of living a low-impact lifestyle, Ms Nemeth shared how she moved in with a family who lived on a farm in exchange for tending to their orchard. She said she lived in a recycled hut that they constructed for free at the time.

To cook her meals, she constructed a cooktop out of bricks, also known as a rocket stove.

Ms Nemeth explained: ‘A rocket stove is basically a little stove that you can build yourself and use twigs and sticks to burn, so you don’t have to have actual proper firewood you can just use anything that you like, find lying around on the ground.’

In 2016, Ms Nemeth then moved to a second house. This time, the house belonged to a friend whose husband sadly passed away.

During this time, Ms Nemeth babysat her friend’s kids. She’s been living there ever since.

She also denied that she was a freeloader.

‘I don’t think I’m freeloading. What I’m doing is instead of exchanging money for my accommodation, I’m exchanging my skills and my time. So, it’s just a different method of exchange,’ she described.

Key Takeaways

• Jo Nemeth, an Australian woman from northern NSW, hasn't spent any money in eight years.
• Ms Nemeth has lived with two families, offering childcare and home services in exchange for housing and food.
• She has built a self-sufficient lifestyle, constructing her own cooktop and using recyclables to make a living space on a farm.
• Despite challenges, including ending a relationship, Ms Nemeth does not regret her choice to live a life without money.

What are your thoughts on Ms Nemeth’s low-impact lifestyle? Share them with us in the comments below!

not to be nasty but she is NOT living a money free life - it may not cost her money but it has cost other people money. So it's not cost free.

 

[mermaid magic]

It's no secret that times are getting tougher and tougher for everyone. With everything that’s been happening – from bills to groceries going up in cost – it's becoming increasingly hard to budget expenses.

But one Australian woman is taking ‘watch your spending’ to a whole new level.

Jo Nemeth, from northern NSW, revealed how she hadn’t spent a single cent in eight years amid the cost-of-living woes impacting the rest of the country.

Ms Nemeth quit her job in 2014 because she felt that she was ‘harming someone’ every time she spent her money.

In her blog, she explained how she has been living a ‘low-impact, money-less life since March 2015’.

‘I will continue living without money for as long as I can, and I will continue to live low-impact for the rest of my life,’ she stated.

Ms Nemeth wrote: ‘While living as low-impact as this is not for everyone, I strongly encourage people to reduce their personal footprint as much as possible.’

View attachment 16886

Ms Nemeth shared that she’s been living a debt-free life since 2015. Credit: maitree rimthong/Pexels

Over the years, Ms Nemeth has lived with two families with free board and food – in exchange, she said she looked after their kids and did their chores and gardening.

She also said she uses leftover napkins her friends have supplied her to use as toilet paper. These same friends also gave her the end bits of their toothpaste for her to use.

At one point, Ms Nemeth lived in a shack and cooked her meals out of a stove she built herself using bricks.

However, because of her unorthodox views, she had to break up with her partner because they were not on board with her low-impact lifestyle.

‘That was very challenging. He was not interested in this kind of life…So, we had to part ways. And that was very, very hard and sad.’

Speaking to Andrew Bucklow, the host of the podcast I’ve Got News For You, Ms Nemeth said that this was ‘not the life many people would probably want’.

‘But it really matches me and my personality perfectly. I’m a homebody; I love to garden; I love to be in nature. All of those things are free, mostly,’ she said.

Ms Nemeth also explained that she made the massive change after learning about the negative impact her purchases were having on the world.

‘When we buy something in Australia, it often has a footprint that affects lives all over the world. And it really was just getting too much for me, it struck home really strongly that every time that I was spending money on anything, I was potentially harming other people and other environments all around the world,’ she said.

View attachment 16887

Jo explained how she quit her job to live a low-impact life. Credit: jolowimpact/Instagram

She added that at one point, it just became ‘too much’. ‘I was reading a book, and I read about a man in the UK who had decided to choose to live without money. And when I read that, I was just like, it was my answer,’ she shared.

The man is Irishman Mark Boyle. Mr Boyle lived money-less in the UK for three years. He also has been living without modern technology since 2016.

He’s a regular writer for the British newspaper The Guardian and is a published author as well.

Recalling her first few years of living a low-impact lifestyle, Ms Nemeth shared how she moved in with a family who lived on a farm in exchange for tending to their orchard. She said she lived in a recycled hut that they constructed for free at the time.

To cook her meals, she constructed a cooktop out of bricks, also known as a rocket stove.

Ms Nemeth explained: ‘A rocket stove is basically a little stove that you can build yourself and use twigs and sticks to burn, so you don’t have to have actual proper firewood you can just use anything that you like, find lying around on the ground.’

In 2016, Ms Nemeth then moved to a second house. This time, the house belonged to a friend whose husband sadly passed away.

During this time, Ms Nemeth babysat her friend’s kids. She’s been living there ever since.

She also denied that she was a freeloader.

‘I don’t think I’m freeloading. What I’m doing is instead of exchanging money for my accommodation, I’m exchanging my skills and my time. So, it’s just a different method of exchange,’ she described.

Key Takeaways

• Jo Nemeth, an Australian woman from northern NSW, hasn't spent any money in eight years.
• Ms Nemeth has lived with two families, offering childcare and home services in exchange for housing and food.
• She has built a self-sufficient lifestyle, constructing her own cooktop and using recyclables to make a living space on a farm.
• Despite challenges, including ending a relationship, Ms Nemeth does not regret her choice to live a life without money.

What are your thoughts on Ms Nemeth’s low-impact lifestyle? Share them with us in the comments below!

 

[mermaid magic]

I'd be interested to have disclosure as to whether she is reaping the benefits of social security whilst performing this self imposed lifestyle.

 

[MindyMac]

She is leaving a footprint every single day. She eats, goes to the toilet and worse yet uses paper towels instead of toilet paper. She uses peoples end parts of toothpaste. What, does she also use their 'used toothbrushes. If not, then who pays for them. What about shampoo, soap/body wash, laundry. I know, the person that she lives with. I also lay a 1/1 bet that if the home owner passes away that she will claim entitlement to to that home. Claim against this woman's will that she is entitled to all of it, or 70-90% of it, or lie and say that they were in a relationship and therefore her defacto same-sex partner, or claim residency rights until the day she passes away. That she has no monies and no place to go and that she has resided their for decades and therefore has 'residency rights.' She's in it for the $money. She sponges $$$$Off every person that she knows, even for the food, laundry, electricity, water. You name it and she expected she and her partner both do this and have others pay for them, including the Tax-Payers, Centrelink, Medicare ..etc..

She also gets Medicare and therefore does not contribute in anyway to the upkeep of the country in which she lives. I bet she claims Centrelink and I bet she claims the Disability Pension and also bet she gets extra for Rental Assistance as well. Centrelink needs to thoroughly investigate her for Fraud.

Her obvious footprints as well: I bet she uses the public bathrooms when need to, uses the footpath, the lights to cross the road, the police and fire dept for her protection. She uses the sewerage, water and thinks it's OK to have $free everything in a country in which my own father fought in WW2 for freedom and yes he survived but many didn't and many were severely injured. She takes for granted people born with disabilities through no fault of their own and need peoples assistance. The taxes goes towards that. It also goes towards the education of peoples children. I worked for 35 years with my severe birth disability until I couldn't any more. I couldn't have children but I paid taxes all my working life towards other peoples children, even my nieces and nephews. She is Plain & Simple A No Hoper and that man left her because he wanted nothing to do with her. He left her because maybe, just maybe he wanted to work and to also contribute. Imagine if every person did what she did. There would be no hospitals. There would be no inter-structure. Society only works if we all work and all contribute. Did what we could at what we were good at and if you were like myself and couldn't do the career that you wanted because of a disability then you got another form of employment that worked with your disability and gave you some fulfilment.

This LAZY NO-BODY SLACKER BLUDGER and yes I'd like to use a number of words here that are running through my head about this so-called-****. So-what if she does some gardening at this person's house. Even did some baby sitting and did the house work. I hope the owners children get on top of this and get rid of her once and for all. Go build a shanty in the bush and make your own fishing rod from wood and make your own line as well. Make your own fire and not uses even one match or lighter. Clean your teeth with scrub. Get your veggie & fruit intake from whatever grows in the bush. Just get rid of this lazy no-good User.

 

[MindyMac]

Good on her though I know I couldn't do it I like things and you have to pay for things

She's a Bludger and you say "Good on her."

 

[MindyMac]

Good on her. Each to their own.

She is a Bludger and on $The Take from Centrelink as well and probably is claiming Disability Pension and not Unemployment benefits. I bet she also gets Rental Assistance from Centrelink as well. She gets Medicare as well. She makes the homeowner pay for her food, even pharmacy. She's A DISGUST. The home owner needs to kick her out.