Can You Live Without Money?

[Girl from Celebes 588]

I have to admit first. These things reminded me of my late grandfather-grandmother who were lived at small village a long time ago. Every time I went there for holidays, they almost never bought anything from the traditional market. They had farm to grew many different kind of vegetables, raised chicken, duck, and fishing at small river near their house. I guess can live in that way IF I send myself back there. Since I grew up at small city, these things-somehow- weird to me. Surprisingly, many people now are want back to old days.. Here the original link.

Most of us could go a day without spending any cash. But a week? How about sixteen years? That's how long 69-year-old Heidemarie Schwermer, grandmother of three, has lived without money. Schwermer's odyssey is the subject of a documentary film, Living Without Money, by director Line Halvorsen, which is screening internationally and is also available on DVD. Related link: Swap-o-Rama: Don't Buy if You Can Barter

In 1996, Schwermer, a former schoolteacher and psychotherapist, decided to try to live without money for a year as an experiment. As a child she had experienced deep deprivation as a refugee fleeing from Russian forces during World War II. Her family had escaped what was then East Prussia and ended up in Germany "penniless." She has always felt a sense of compassion and empathy for the homeless community in the city of Dortmund where she settled as an adult.

Two years before she began living completely without money, Schwermer had opened a swap shop where people could barter services and goods. It was such a success it gave her the confidence to take the leap of quitting her job, giving away all of her possessions except what could fit into a single suitcase and backpack, and moving out of her rental home. According to the Austrian Times, Schwermer says she "had become irritated by the greedy consumer society" she was witnessing.

She acknowledges that her friends were confused and her two grown daughters were initially shocked (she says they now accept her lifestyle). Schwermer lived nomadically, trading gardening, cleaning, and even therapy sessions for food and a place to sleep. She found it liberating: "Living without money gave me quality of life, inner wealth, and freedom."

Schwermer has written three books about her experiences. She says the first, "The Star Money Experiment" was quite successful and she passed out all the money she earned to people on the street, "in five mark coins," Germany's currency before the euro. She waived her advances on the other books and asked the publisher to give her royalties to charity.

Director Halvorsen told Yahoo! Shine, "Heidemarie's unique story made me want to create a film that challenges the viewer into questioning their own relationship to money and possessions." She explains, "The film does not teach you how to live without money, but is a portrait of a woman who has made a very courageous and inspiring choice."

Living without money in the United States

Schwermer's experiment is obviously extreme and Germany does have more of a social safety net than we do in the United States. But there are many ways to live with less money here. You can get everything from a bicycle to kid's clothing without spending a penny by logging on to websites such as Freecycle. Craigslist also has a section devoted to giveaways. Apartment swaps and couch surfing are ways to travel on the cheap. Yahoo's Conscious Consumer blog has many other ideas for getting free stuff easily.

Edited January 11, 2012 by Girl from Celebes

[Tim/Mav 305]

LOL Young Lady.. You are going back to your childhood and never forget what you were taught.

Now, your in the US and see things are different.

If I had no money in the US I could not afford : A chicken

A duck

An apple

A 6 pack of beer.

Internet to even reply

Electricity so the computor works

A home

Gasoline/Insurance

My subscription to Playboy would exspire.

Money is needed is any Country to exist and some countries rely on trade but in the end, money is always involved. Always has and will never change. HOLD ONTO YOUR GOLD/SILVER.

[Girl from Celebes 588]

LOL Young Lady.. You are going back to your childhood and never forget what you were taught.

Now, your in the US and see things are different.

If I had no money in the US I could not afford : A chicken

A duck

An apple

A 6 pack of beer.

Internet to even reply

Electricity so the computor works

A home

Gasoline/Insurance

My subscription to Playboy would exspire.

Money is needed is any Country to exist and some countries rely on trade but in the end, money is always involved. Always has and will never change. HOLD ONTO YOUR GOLD/SILVER.

That's made my day!

I think would depend how we'd see things around us. I used swipe my credit cards in excessive way. Now, I have learned how to handle my own money actually-Thank God- got a lesson from my fiance. He's very good at it. I have budgeting plan everyday and each month using spreadsheets from Microsoft. Now, I spent less money for something that I want - sometimes people get confused between what they do "want" or what they do "need". I might be try living like this someday.

Edited January 11, 2012 by Girl from Celebes

[Kajikit 65]

In other words, she voluntarily became a homeless street person, dependent on the generosity of others for survival. I don't know how common that is in Germany, but there are millions of homeless people in the US if you open your eyes and look. Not a lot of them CHOSE that situation though...

[luckytxn 2,264]

I have to admit first. These things reminded me of my late grandfather-grandmother who were lived at small village a long time ago. Every time I went there for holidays, they almost never bought anything from the traditional market. They had farm to grew many different kind of vegetables, raised chicken, duck, and fishing at small river near their house. I guess can live in that way IF I send myself back there. Since I grew up at small city, these things-somehow- weird to me. Surprisingly, many people now are want back to old days.. Here the original link.

When I grew up we had some acres and we grew almost everything we needed to eat and year round. We had more than enough and traded with others near us for other things, like chickens and such. (I was always the one that had to catch the particular chicken) We also had some of the acreage as horse stalls that we rented out to city folk to keep their horses. Some acreage as rented out for pasture. We would get a cow now and again and have it butchered and two huge outside freezers to keep the meat we gathered. It wasn't just us but all around us. I was happy to leave that life and become a city boy. It was hard work. I also am now going back to that life and always for many years now have modest gardens.

When looked at people living like that we see as poor but I don't. They were raised that way and they were producing and procuring sustenance. I was very happy back then and had a good life and know it. I do like going to the market and get everything I need.

[Captain Oates 911]

Chickens

My dad had a pretty easy job which was low paid but quite pleasant, and my mother used to gripe at him and tell him to get a real job like a real man. He laughed.

We had a lot of hens which people nowadays and in the USA, call chickens

When I was about 7 or so, my dad would give me a special treat - we would get a wooden chopping block and he would hold the hen while I cut its head off with an axe. Then he would let it go and we would laugh as it did backward somersaults

Hey that was the good news as they would be healthy hens. On a Saturday evening we would go in the hen house while it was dark and feel the breasts of the hens to see if any had "gone light"

"Gone light" meant they were sick and dying. We would kill them and eat them for Sunday lunch.

On the 5th November every year it is bonfire night. Guy Fawkes night. Everywhere in England there are bonfires and fireworks and in the morning and it is like a war zone. Some of the hens would be found dead next day, having had heart attacks

Naturally, they would feed us for the next week or two.

I say the bonfires are everywhere but they were not held in Otley on the nearby Fawkes' estate. His family still live there and bonfires are not allowed.

He was tortured and slow hung and then disembowel while alive and then cut into four quarters.

We taught the Guantanamo guys all they know

Chickens are always at the forefront of any discussion on poverty.

[luckytxn 2,264]

Chickens

My dad had a pretty easy job which was low paid but quite pleasant, and my mother used to gripe at him and tell him to get a real job like a real man. He laughed.

We had a lot of hens which people nowadays and in the USA, call chickens

When I was about 7 or so, my dad would give me a special treat - we would get a wooden chopping block and he would hold the hen while I cut its head off with an axe. Then he would let it go and we would laugh as it did backward somersaults

Hey that was the good news as they would be healthy hens. On a Saturday evening we would go in the hen house while it was dark and feel the breasts of the hens to see if any had "gone light"

"Gone light" meant they were sick and dying. We would kill them and eat them for Sunday lunch.

On the 5th November every year it is bonfire night. Guy Fawkes night. Everywhere in England there are bonfires and fireworks and in the morning and it is like a war zone. Some of the hens would be found dead next day, having had heart attacks

Naturally, they would feed us for the next week or two.

I say the bonfires are everywhere but they were not held in Otley on the nearby Fawkes' estate. His family still live there and bonfires are not allowed.

He was tortured and slow hung and then disembowel while alive and then cut into four quarters.

We taught the Guantanamo guys all they know

Chickens are always at the forefront of any discussion on poverty.

Y'all didn't wring the chickens necks before you cut their head off? That is barbaric.

[Captain Oates 911]

Y'all didn't wring the chickens necks before you cut their head off? That is barbaric.

My grandad used to "key-hole" kittens

He couldn't stand to drown them, so he used to tie a noose around their necks, put the string through the key hole and then go into the other room and pull on the string. It was a less distressing method (to him)

They didn't have neutering in those days so there was always a surfeit of kittens

Chopping heads off is really quick, and quicker than anything else,, and prepares small children for life in a capitalist culture. Most people are made redundant (fired), 4 times in their working lives, and the results (homelessness, divorce, sickness etc), are far more cruel than chopping a hen's head off, as it is extended in time.

I used to put my hand in the nest boxes as the hens were laying, and catch the warm, wet egg as it dropped. Then I would go into the house and soft boil it. The taste of an egg so fresh from a free range hen, is something that rich kids will never know

We were never burgled either until my dad saved enough to buy me a bike, and then someone broke into our hut (shed) and stole it. Having nothing is a great anti-theft strategy. Better than having a gun.

[luckytxn 2,264]

My grandad used to "key-hole" kittens

He couldn't stand to drown them, so he used to tie a noose around their necks, put the string through the key hole and then go into the other room and pull on the string. It was a less distressing method (to him)

They didn't have neutering in those days so there was always a surfeit of kittens

Chopping heads off is really quick, and quicker than anything else,, and prepares small children for life in a capitalist culture. Most people are made redundant (fired), 4 times in their working lives, and the results (homelessness, divorce, sickness etc), are far more cruel than chopping a hen's head off, as it is extended in time.

I used to put my hand in the nest boxes as the hens were laying, and catch the warm, wet egg as it dropped. Then I would go into the house and soft boil it. The taste of an egg so fresh from a free range hen, is something that rich kids will never know

We were never burgled either until my dad saved enough to buy me a bike, and then someone broke into our hut (shed) and stole it. Having nothing is a great anti-theft strategy. Better than having a gun.

What was the reason for key holing the kittens. Food source or sadism?

[Captain Oates 911]

What was the reason for key holing the kittens. Food source or sadism?

He couldn't stand to see them die drowning - he was a real softy

So he did it in away that he couldn't see it

He would see that as the opposite of sadism, as sadist want to see what they are doing

"What the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't grieve over" is the saying.

Its why the Pope wears sunglasses in the bath - he doesn't want to look down on the unemployed

[luckytxn 2,264]

He couldn't stand to see them die drowning - he was a real softy

So he did it in away that he couldn't see it

He would see that as the opposite of sadism, as sadist want to see what they are doing

"What the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't grieve over" is the saying.

Its why the Pope wears sunglasses in the bath - he doesn't want to look down on the unemployed

Just was wondering why they had to die in the first place. We didn't keep cats in the household but they were around the barn and outer buildings and were fed just enough to keep them around but still hungry enough to chase the varmints away and/or eat them. There was some people that would use them as a food source for themselves or food for their fighting dogs.

[Usui Takumi 1,562]

What a dirty socialist.

[Captain Oates 911]

Just was wondering why they had to die in the first place. We didn't keep cats in the household but they were around the barn and outer buildings and were fed just enough to keep them around but still hungry enough to chase the varmints away and/or eat them. There was some people that would use them as a food source for themselves or food for their fighting dogs.

Heck I never heard of anyone eating cats

That is poor - real poverty

I have been poor but never salivated at the sight of a mog

Not while there are fat homeless people in the bus station

[luckytxn 2,264]

Heck I never heard of anyone eating cats

That is poor - real poverty

I have been poor but never salivated at the sight of a mog

Not while there are fat homeless people in the bus station

I agree. I couldn't imagine eating cat but was told some did. They were poor. As Dad would say, "if hungry enough one can eat anything."

So no reason to be key holing cats?

What's a Mog?

Really never see fat homeless people.

[Captain Oates 911]

I agree. I couldn't imagine eating cat but was told some did. They were poor. As Dad would say, "if hungry enough one can eat anything."

So no reason to be key holing cats?

What's a Mog?

Really never see fat homeless people.

A mog (or moggy) is a cat --- and a growler is a pork pie

You don't see fat homeless people because starving homeless people eat them - they taste like pork (they say)

I don't know what cats taste like - never will. I suppose that if they were curried, then the real taste would be disguised. I once killed one of our rabbits and fed it to the kids and told em it was chicken

I confessed some years later - praps that's why they don't email or txt me.

namby pambies