Sundeen's 'The Man Who Quit Money' tells of Suelo's moneyless journey

Of all the books that I’ve read during the past year, Mark Sundeen’s “The Man Who Quit Money” is one of the best and one of my favorites.

Published in March by Riverhead Books, this 272-page book tells the story of 51-year-old Daniel Suelo, who quit using money altogether in 2000. Suelo, a Colorado native, walked into a Utah phone booth in the autumn of that year and left all of his money, a grand total of $30, on top of the phone and walked away. Since then, he hasn’t earned, received or spent a single cent. He also doesn’t live off of welfare, have a bank account or carry an ID.

How does someone live without money? How does he eat? Where does he sleep? “The Man Who Quit Money” answers all of those questions and many more as Sundeen masterfully details Suelo’s moneyless journey and the events that led up to his decision to live without money.

Some of you may think that Suelo’s nothing but a bum, but you’d be wrong. He doesn’t panhandle, and while it’s true that he does survive to some degree by dumpster diving for food and sleeping out under the stars, he isn’t afraid of hard work or of even having a job, despite the fact that he won’t accept a paycheck. He mostly exists on what people have discarded, given to him freely or on whatever’s readily available to anyone.

Suelo and his chosen lifestyle just don’t fit the profile of the typical hobo. He’s college educated, speaks fluent Spanish, worked for the Peace Corps and maintains a widely read blog (zerocurrency.blogspot.com) via the internet connection at his local library.

Suelo lives the way he lives mostly for spiritual and religious reasons. Raised in a home that adhered to the Christian and literal Biblical teachings of the evangelical Plymouth Brethren, Suelo is motivated by the teachings of such spiritual leaders as Jesus and Buddha and is convinced that the love of money is the root of all evil. One of his guiding principals comes straight from Matthew 19:21, where Jesus said that “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor.”

“The Man Who Quit Money” artfully shows how Suelo creatively and resourcefully navigates the modern world without money and also shows how in many ways he lives a life with a higher purpose. Even though he’s penniless, he seems richer than a lot of us, especially when it comes to friendship and living a meaningful life.

While I realize that Suelo’s lifestyle isn’t practical for everyone (especially those of us with families), many of us would do well to read about some of Suelo’s guiding principles. When it all comes down to it, we’re all surrounded by a bunch of junk that we don’t need, too much food and the life-sucking pressures of financial obligations like debt and taxes.

In the end, I highly recommend “The Man Who Quit Money,” and if you enjoy reading it, you may also enjoy reading some of Sundeen’s other books. They include “Car Camping” (2000), “The Making of Toro” (2003) and “North by Northwestern: A Seafaring Family on Deadly Alaskan Waters” (2010). They’re all available through major booksellers like Amazon and Barnes & Noble.