How To Survive Without Money? (2024)

“How to survive without money?” is a question a large portion of Americans ponder every single day. In America, it’s impossible to survive without money or additional support from someone.

Some people work 2-3 jobs and still struggle to make ends meet. Even with a partner or spouse, the ability to afford a decent lifestyle is an uphill battle. Essential items like food, transportation, and housing continuously increase while working wages remain stagnant.

If you want to learn how to survive without money, you have to consider your expectations for your quality of life or whether moving to a different country would be a better fit for you.

America doesn’t offer free healthcare, affordable housing can take decades to secure, and while a public education is free, it isn’t always the best.

Most people aren’t surviving without money by choice.

Life circ*mstances usually put them in less fortunate predicaments, such as job loss, a depletion of savings, divorce, or bouts of homelessness.

Financial insecurity is a lack of confidence or stability in one’s financial situation. It involves feeling uncertain about one’s ability to meet financial obligations, cover expenses, or plan for the future. Financial insecurity can lead to stress, anxiety, and difficulty in achieving financial goals.

Financial insecurity doesn’t just happen overnight. Some people are born into poverty and never get out of it.

Other people stumble into it from factors such as low income, high amounts of debt, unstable employment, or unexpected financial setbacks.

Those who are financially insecure are always trying to figure out how to survive without money, because they rarely have enough of it.

Most of the time, they are just trying to stay afloat or working their way out of a temporary situation.

If you ever find yourself in need of additional monetary resources, or ideas on how to get extra cash fast, use this blog post as a guide or share with anyone in need.

How can I live a good life without money?

There are four ways to live a good life without money.

As far-fetched as they may seem, you can either marry rich, come from wealth, practice extreme minimalism, or luck up on a large lump sum of money. This can be from creating a successful business venture, receiving a generous gift, or winning the lottery.

No, but to be honest, it depends on the type of quality of life that you desire.

Define what a ‘good life’ is for you? Is it time freedom? Getting free housing and healthcare? Is it universal based income?

Or is it living off the grid or in a communal space with like-minded people?

Quality of life for most people typically includes a moderate to high-income paying job, affordable housing, and their basic needs met, such as food, child care, and access tohealthcare. In our country, we work in exchange for money to attain the necessities of everyday life.

When you don’t trade in your time for money or have any assets or people that will pay you money passively, it becomes difficult to survive.

Children can live a good life without money.

You know why? Because their parents, who work to provide for them, meet their needs.

The average adult doesn’t have that luxury unless they are living on an inheritance or they marry someone who can provide a certain lifestyle for them.

However, there are practical ways to live a good life for people who are low income with little to no money.

Not everyone desires a ‘glamorous’ life with all the expensive houses, various trips overseas, and foreign cars to park in the driveway.

There are people who practice extreme minimalism where they reduce their possessions and living space to the bare essentials.

They might live in a tiny, sparsely furnished home with only a few essential itemslike a bed, table, and chair.

Their wardrobe could be a handful of versatile clothing items and they often focus on quality over quantity. Extreme minimalists aim to live with the absolute minimum needed for a comfortable and fulfilling existence.

Dedicating your life to serving others is another way to find your purpose with little to no money involved.

Sure, you’ll need to find a program that will provide housing or a job with room and board, but it’s doable.

There are many people who join a missionary, the Peace Corps, become live-in housemaids for room and board, or move overseas for an easier way of life.

People who serve their community and live to help others don’t really need money to feel fulfilled. These are additional options you can consider when figuring out how to survive without money.

Money isn’t the end all, be all to life. The world is enormous and has a special place for everyone in it.

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What are the disadvantages of living without money?

• Unhoused
• Long-term unemployment
• Hunger
• Lack of access to resources
• High-crime neighborhoods
• Poor education
• Low quality of life
• Severe depression
• Vulnerability to traumatic experiences
• A decline in mental health
• Increased stress levels and anxiety from uncertainty
• Change in lifestyle
• Codependency on others and government assistant programs
• Situational poverty
• Financial insecurity
• Broken relationships
• A lack of confidence
• Decrease in earning potential
• Losing custody of children

The number one threat to living without money is homelessness.

Sure, you cango live with a close friend, move back in with parents, or couch surf for a few months, but what if those options aren’t available to you?

Humans need their basic needs met.

A comfortable, safe place to lay your head, eat, and wash up will always take priority over anything else.

And if you’re a parent, you’re responsible for providing shelter, food, and a safe place to practice personal hygiene.

All these things require money. Without it, you are not only at risk of experiencing homelessness, but a lower quality of life, emotional distress, and long-term unemployment.

An inevitable domino-effect will occur when you go extensive periods without an income.

Rent and bills become overdue. Utilities get cut off. You’ll have to seek food from alternative resources, like soup kitchens and food banks, to combat hunger.

When you have no shelter, you are also more vulnerable to unsafe living conditions, such as overcrowded homeless shelters, living in the elements outdoors, or sleeping in your vehicle.

There are a plethora of dangers and traumatic experiences you are likely to undergo with no money. The people who end up in this situation aren’t living without money by choice.

If you ever need to escape situational poverty or know someone who is financially insecure, please share our ideas on how to survive without money below!

What to do if you have no money?

How to survive without money? – Sell your possessions

The quickest way to get extra cash is to sell what you already own. Are you behind on bills? Car about to be repossessed? Need more money for groceries?

Look around your home to see what you can sell on the Facebook marketplace, Craig’s List, eBay, or the local pawnshop.

Think of unused furniture, old jewelry, or invaluable things that may be worth a pretty penny to hold you over.

How to survive without money? – Avoid spending

Essential items should be the only purchases you make for at least 6-12 months (maybe longer).

Focus on having more money come into your bank account than what goes out.

Groceries, health care, house and educational expenses should be at the forefront of your budget.

Also, use this time to build up an emergency savings account.

Develop the financial discipline to live frugally instead of spending on things that don’t meet your basic needs.

How to survive without money? – Set financial goals

Even though you’re learning how to survive without money, understand that it’s only temporary.

Setting financial goals will give you a clear vision of where you want to be, and will help you develop a roadmap on how to get there.

Maybe you need to increase your income? Or maybe you spend frivolously with no budget to abide by?

Take a step back and evaluate your relationship with money.

It could be possible that you have a shopping addiction or are so tight with money that you’re always in survival mode and don’t believe you can earn more.

These things are important to consider when you’re setting financial goals.

How to survive without money? – Start a service based business

What career skills, unique talent, or educational background can you leverage that can be of service to others?

You don’t need to be a university graduate or highly skilled in the tech industry to make some extra cash.

Do you enjoy cooking meals?Are you a pro at gardening, sewing, or keeping your house clean?

Market your skill set to your friends, family, and community around you.

Participate in the church bake sale, sell food at the local farmer’s market, prepare meals for older adults, provide cleaning services, or crochet different clothes, blankets, and accessories you can sell at the artisan marketplace.

There are plenty of unconventional ways to earn a living. See what’s in demand. It’s worth a try when you’re just trying to survive.

How to survive without money? – Find free food

Go to your local library to access Wi-Fi and a computer if you don’t have one.

Compile all the research you can find into an excel document on non-profit organizations, food banks, soup kitchens, shelters, and churches that take in food donations and offer services to those in need.

As long as you meet the requirements and the location isn’t too far, take advantage of all the free meals they offer.

There’s an abundance of these programs in highly populated cities, but suburbs offer great programs and services you can sign up for as well.

Some allow you to shop for beverages,fresh produce, meat, canned goods, and baking items every week.

The only drawback is that these gems are hard to find. You’ll have to do the research and sign up for as many as you can.

How to survive without money? – Government Assistance

The government offers a plethora of resources for families and individuals who have hit hard times.

There are monthly stipends, housing vouchers, and credit cards for food that you can use until you get back on your feet.

Unfortunately, there’s a lot of red tape that may prevent you from qualifying for full government benefits.

In some places, the waiting lists can take up to months, sometimes even years.

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How to survive without money? – Seek shelter

You never know until you ask someone if they’re willing to lend you their couch to sleepon or rent out a room.

Put your pride to the side and find other means of shelter.

If you can’t move in with a friend, a relative, or someone that you trust, try community centers and churches who may have lesser known resources for housing.

Before competing for a bed at a homeless shelter, consider hostels, or motels that may allow you to pay at a discounted rate or later time.

How to survive without money? – Borrow money

If you are confident you can pay a loan back on time, this may be an option for you. I would not recommend this for someone who’s already in debt and struggling with money management.

Opening up more credit cards may appear as a temporary solution, but credit should not be a bandaid for all of your money problems.

More often than not, credit cards come with high interest rates and using them can dig you into an even deeper hole of debt.

Banks often require you to show proof of income or have a stable work history before they lend out anything.

If there’s someone you know personally who has the funds to lend, ask them instead.

Stay on top of your payments and do what you can to pay the loan back as soon as possible.

Relationships and friendships often end over money.

You should have people you can rely on when you’re in need, but do everything you can to maintain their trust to keep your relationship with them intact.

How to survive with less money?

Sometimes, money gets a little funny.

It happens to all of us. We lose jobs, savings get wiped out, or we get behind on bills.

A little extra money always comes in handy. I don’t know too many people who are turning down opportunities to make more.

While there are a plethora of ways to survive with less money, I think the primary focus should be on how to make more of it.

Unless you’re physically disabled, or not in a mental state to work for money, your best bet is to search for active income like gig work such as Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, or UberEATS.

Sure, gig work requires you to hustle, but the instant monetary return can be well worth it.

But, if you prefer a more passive route, start an online business or throw all of your money into a high yield savings account or HYSA.A high yield savings account provides an average return of around 0.50% to 0.60% compared to the more well-known commercial banks.

Surviving with less money requires you to save more, but a HYSA won’t allow your hard earned money to collect dust.

Some people receive a substantial amount of money at the end of the year for doing absolutely nothing but saving more!

If you want a list of some of the most popular HYSA banks, check them out here.

Another way to survive with less money is to pay down debt. I’ll always recommend Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover. His money saving strategies have helped millions of people crawl out of crippling debt step-by-step.

Stock investing can be an alternative strategy, too.

However, it depends on your tolerance for risk, and how much money you’re comfortable losing. If you don’t have excess money to play in the stock market, the safest investing strategy is to buy and hold.

In need of more ideas of how to survive without money, check out 20 practical ways you can earn more money now below!

• Pick up or deliver groceries
• Child care
• Senior care
• Cleaning Services
• Laundering
• Baking
• Carpool
• DoorDash
• Bartend/Server
• Gardening/Yard Work
• Sell skillset on Upwork
• Thrifting
• Donate plasma
• Resell on eBay
• Offer tutoring or language classes online
• Invest in REITs
• House hack by renting out a room
• Learn a new skill to leverage
• Create a course and sell it online
• Affiliate marketing

Creating a side hustle isn’t for everyone, but it’s an option if you want learn how to live without money or a job. Plan what you’d like your life to look like in terms of your financial goals with the ‘Side Hustle Planner’ here.

Go make that money goal friends!