Meet the Aussie woman who hasn't spent a cent in two years

For most of us it's a struggle to survive a single day without spending money but for the past two and half years Aussie Jo Nemeth has not spent a single cent.

That’s right, not one cent and she’s not on the dole, nor does she have any income.

A little over two years ago the thrifty Aussie had a good job she loved, and she had all the other things that come with it, like rent, bills and ultimately stress.

“I was on this treadmill trying to keep a roof over my head trying to pay the bills and it was incredibly stressful,” Jo told Today Tonight.

It was then she decided to go from making money, to making none at all.

“I look around at people living with money and struggling to make ends meet and it scares me,” Jo explains about
her alternative lifestyle choice.

Since making the life-changing decision people have offered to give Jo money, however she has turned them down, as she wants to live without it.

“I am happier. I have less stress,” Jo says of her decision.

In order to do this Jo said she has to distill her actual needs and her list was rather short, containing only shelter, food, water and clothes.

Jo resides in a tiny two-bedroom house on wheels that she moves from location to location in northern NSW.

She parks the house in people's back yards or farms where she often somehow can improve their life.

At her current residence she is helping the owners build a garden.

“When I first started this I was growing food on the farm I was living on," she said.

"Now I’m in town I’ve had to get a little more creative about accessing food, so now I volunteer at an organic market stall. I just help them out and they say ‘take whatever veggies you want."

Jo says sometimes she does resort to bin diving, where she goes through supermarket bins for perfectly good food that's been discarded.

She does own a mobile phone.

“I’ve got credit on my phone. I’ve got minimal amount of credit so it was gifted to me last Christmas as a Christmas present,” she explains.

She cooks on a homemade rocket stove that she built where she uses bamboo for fuel.

She uses solar power to source hot water and to charge her lap top and phone.

As a result she has reduced her carbon footprint dramatically and she’s hoping others can do the same.

“I don't expect other people to live without money, but I would really like other people to reduce their consumption a lot I think that we consume way too much as a society and I think it’s completely unsustainable and putting the planet under stress,” she said.

“If you want to save money, consume for needs rather than wants,” she explains.

Jo says true value lies in relationships and community but also says that she couldn’t do what she is doing without a community.

“I’ve been called a bludger a lot that's as bad as it gets.”

Jo credits her lifestyle with being able to give back more.

“They're grateful that I am living this way because I have time I have so much time that I can give to people,” Jo explains.