Meet the local woman who lives without money

COULD you live without money? That’s the question Jo Nemeth will explore in an upcoming talk at Byron Bay Library.

The Lismore local gave up money herself in 2015 after reading a book about alternative lifestyles.

“I just didn’t want to be complicit in our globalised industrial system anymore,” she said.

“I was learning too much about how everything we buy is doing damage to someone or creatures on the planet.

“I didn’t know how to get out of it but then I read in a book that some people live without money. It was a revelation. I felt such relief.”

Nemeth grew up on a cattle property in Central Queensland and moved to the Northern Rivers with her daughter after visiting a friend in 2002, seeking a community of like-minded people.

The 56-year-old now lives with that friend, Sharon Brodie, who she met in Ipswich while trying to set up a food co-op when their children were babies.

Instead of paying rent, Nemeth contributes to the household by growing food in the vegetable garden, making soap, preparing healthy meals such as tofu from scratch—often using rescued food — and washing clothes.

Nemeth previously worked as a community development officer at a neighbourhood centre, which included looking after a community garden. She now volunteers regularly at Lismore Community Garden.

There are times when Nemeth encounters challenges. She rides a bike her parents gave her for Christmas a couple of years ago, but when it needed repairs, she thought about getting rid of it. A friend from the community garden stepped in to help, allowing her to continue cycling there.

“I live in the gift economy,” she said. “It’s not bartering and it’s not transactional. It’s, ‘I’m going to do this for you because I can and you’ll probably do something for another person’.”

When she needed dental work, she considered setting up a GoFundMe page, but ended up being accepted by a community dentist.

“It’s part of the privilege to live in a wealthy country and I’m very aware of that,” she said.

While she acknowledges our current society couldn’t function without money, Nemeth said many civilisations throughout history have done so, and it could happen again.

“We live in a capitalist society and if we all decided to live without money it would crash,” she said. “I don’t think it would be a terrible thing – I think it’s going to crash anyway at some point in the next few decades. It’s good to have people on the edge of the monetary system like myself to work out ways it might work and teach people about the gift economy, which will be very important.”

Nemeth has received offers from others looking for a “wife” to live in and help with household chores, and she hopes that maintaining a healthy lifestyle will allow her to continue her current way of life for as long as possible.

“It wouldn’t necessarily be the same for other people, but this lifestyle is perfect for me,” she said.

Jo Nemeth will be in conversation with award-winning journalist and author Louise Southerden for Could you live without money? at Byron Bay Library at 3.30pm on Thursday, November 20.

Bookings are essential via the Richmond Tweed Library website www.rtrl.nsw.gov.au