Mark Boyle (Moneyless Man)

This article is about the Moneyless Man. For the Scottish artist, see Mark Boyle. For the snooker player, see Mark Boyle (snooker player). For the Scottish councillor, see Official Monster Raving Loony Party.

Mark Boyle
Born	Mark Boyle May 8, 1979 (1979-05-08) (age 32) Ballyshannon, County Donegal, Ireland
Residence	near Bath, UK
Nationality	Irish
Education	BA in Business
Alma mater	Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology
Occupation	writer, activist, freeconomist
Website
http://www.justfortheloveofit.org

Mark Boyle aka The Moneyless Man (born 8 May 1979) is a writer and activist best known for founding the online Freeconomy Community, and for living without money since November 2008.^[1] Boyle writes regularly for the Freeconomy Blog and British newspaper The Guardian. His first book, The Moneyless Man: A Year of Freeconomic Living was published in 2010.^{[citation needed]} Boyle currently lives near Bath, in South-west England.

Early life

Mark Boyle grew up in Ballyshannon in Co. Donegal, in the North-West of Ireland. He took a degree in Business at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, before moving to the UK in 2002.^[2][3]

During the final year of his degree, Boyle watched the film Gandhi, about the life of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. He has frequently cited this as the moment that changed his life.^[4][5]

Early career

During his first six years in the UK, Boyle lived in Bristol and managed two organic food companies. In 2007, after a conversation with a friend during which they decided "money... creates a kind of disconnection between us and our actions", Boyle set up the Freeconomy Community.^[6]

Moneyless lifestyle

A few months after creating the Freeconomy Community, Boyle set out on a two-and-a-half year trek from Bristol to Porbandar in India, the birthplace of Gandhi. Inspired by the non-violent salt march led across India by Gandhi in 1930, and by America’s ‘Peace Pilgrim’, he set off in January 2008, carrying no money and only a small number of possessions.^[7][8] However, he was forced to turn back only a month into the trip, as language barriers halted his journey shortly after he arrived in Calais.^[9]

Later in the same year, Boyle developed an alternative plan: to live without money entirely. After some preparatory purchases (including a solar panel and wood-burning stove), he began his first year of Moneyless living on Buy Nothing Day 2009.^[10][11]

Boyle has received considerable positive and negative publicity for his moneyless lifestyle, appearing on television, radio and other media in the UK, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, USA and Russia. Much of the attention has focussed on his day-to-day routine, including food, hygiene, and traditionally expensive aspects of life, such as Christmas.^{[12][13][14][15][16]}

Mark Boyle is one of a small number of individuals who has lived without money in recent times. These include Heidemarie Schwermer and Daniel Suelo.^[17][18] However, Boyle frequently reminds his readers that a moneyless life is not a new idea; indeed it is the system of money itself that is the new development, having existed for only a small fraction of human history.^[19]

Freeconomy Community

The Freeconomy Community has over 25,000 members in over 150 countries,^{[citation needed]} and shares similarities with websites such as The Freecycle Network, Freegle and Streetbank. The Freeconomy Community allows people to share, moving away from exchange economies towards a pay it forward philosophy.

Freeskilling

Alongside the online component of the Freeconomy Community, several areas including Bristol and London hold Freeskilling sessions, where freeconomists take turns to pass on their skills in free one-off evening classes. Past topics have included subjects ranging from charity fundraising and anger management to bicycle maintenance, bread-making and campaigning skills.

Freeconomy Blog

Boyle has been the primary author of the Freeconomy Blog since it was launched in 2007. Guest writers have recently included fellow moneyless people Heidemarie Schwermer, Daniel Suelo and Tomi Astikainen.^[20]

The Freeconomy Village

Boyle is currently working with others to set up the UK’s first land-based Freeconomic community. Other founding members include Shaun Chamberlin, author of The Transition Timeline (2009), and Fergus Drennan, also known as the BBC’s Roadkill Chef.^[21][22][23]

The Moneyless Man

Boyle’s first book, The Moneyless Man: A Year of Freeconomic Living, was published in June 2010 by Oneworld Publications. The book documents his first moneyless year, including many of the practical and philosophical challenges he faced. The author’s proceeds go to the Freeconomy trust, towards purchasing land for the foundation of the Freeconomy Community.

See also

• Pay it forward
• Daniel Suelo
• Heidemarie Schwermer

References

1. ^ Mark Boyle, “My year of living without money” The Guardian, 9 November 2009
2. ^ Conor Pope, “Putting cash in the trash”, Irish Times, 9 August 2010
3. ^ Mark Boyle, “Mark Boyle – The Moneyless Man”, The People’s United Community, retrieved 14 February 2011
4. ^ Mark Boyle, “I live without money – and I manage just fine”, The Guardian, 28 October 2009
5. ^ Mark Boyle, “Mark Boyle – The Moneyless Man”, The People’s United Community, retrieved 14 February 2011
6. ^ (18 May 2010) Matt Ford, Free and easy? One man's experiment in living without money”, CNN, retrieved 29 September 2011
7. ^ Kimberley Mok, “"Freeconomy" Pilgrim Begins Walk From Britain to India”, Treehugger, 1 Feb 2008
8. ^ BBC, “Penniless India trek is under way”, BBC News, 30 January 2008
9. ^ Steven Morris, “Passage to India curtailed in Calais as language barrier trips campaigner”, The Guardian, 1 March 2008
10. ^ The Mirror, “Meet the man who lived on no cash for a year”, The Mirror, 25 November 2009
11. ^ Simon Newton, “Man To Go Cashless For A Year”, Sky News, 29 November 2008
12. ^ Matt Ford, “Free and easy? One man’s experiment in living without money”, CNN World, 18 Many 2010
13. ^ Jessica Salter, “The man who lives without money”, The Telegraph, 18 August 2010
14. ^ Mark Boyle, “Mark Boyle's 'Moneyless Man': Why I Live Without Money (VIDEO)”, The Huffington Post, 23 September 2010
15. ^ Mark Boyle, “The man who lives without money”, ABC Environment, 12 April 2010
16. ^ Tiara Walters, “Priceless liberation”, Times Live (South Africa), 31 October 2010
17. ^ Stefanie Marsh, “Living without money”, The Times, 24 November 2009
18. ^ Christopher Ketcham, “Meet the man who lives on zero dollars”, Details, July 2009
19. ^ Mark Boyle, “Mark Boyle – The Moneyless Man”, The People’s United Community, retrieved 14 February 2011
20. ^ http://www.justfortheloveofit.org/blog
21. ^ Shaun Chamberlin, “Dark Optimism – Projects Page”, Dark Optimism (blog), retrieved 14 February 2011
22. ^ Mark Boyle, “Celebrity Short With Mark Boyle”, World News, retrieved 14 February 2011
23. ^ Tiara Walters, “Priceless liberation”, Times Live (South Africa), 31 October 2010

External links

• The Freeconomy Community
• The Freeconomy Blog
• Moneyless man Guardian column

Persondata
Name	Boyle, Mark
Alternative names
Short description	writer, activist, freeconomist
Date of birth	1979-05-08
Place of birth	Ballyshannon
Date of death
Place of death