Why, For Me, Intentional Poverty Is So Awesome
Poverty is such a loaded word.
The word “poverty” captures an essence of injustice. For ages we have been trying to address, alleviate, and eradicate it from our communities. It’s a blight, a soreness.
Poverty is also the focus of service for many religious and secular charities. It’s where we see need, and where we often find humans struggling the most. Soup kitchens, clothing drives, and housing initiatives are all focused on the poor.
Whatever your political or economic perspectives on poverty, we can all agree it’s not a good thing.
And yet many choose to live their lives in poverty — to get by with only basic needs. People like monks. People focused on activism or spiritual enlightenment. Retirees. Nomads. There seem to be a million examples, and a million answers to this question: why live intentionally poor?
I wrote this essay to capture my own answer to this question, and share why living in poverty is the right choice for me.
The Two-Sided Economy
On one side there is money. High-paid CEO’s, real estate tycoons, and white-collared workers represent the wealthiest part of our economy.
The draw of money is felt by everyone. Whether you are trying to earn more, trying to sell something, or just trying to get by, it’s all about money.
And yet, also, it’s NOT all about money, too.
On the other side of our economy is a whole bunch of people working not to get wealthy, but to fill an important role. Healthcare workers, educators, nonprofit & church workers… they are on a long list of organizations that are not fueled by money, but by purpose.
For thousands of years, people on this side of the economy have been doing their jobs regardless of how much (or in reality how little) they were paid.
My Side of the Story
I have felt the pull of both in my life. It seems like not long ago I was making nearly $100k a year, and boy did that feel good. When I had more money coming in than I needed for all my needs and most of my wants, I felt on top of the world.
And yet, I wasn’t happy. I worked a lot, and had little time for other things. And, I found that world travel, the latest tech gadgets, and delicious food all were fun at the moment, but didn’t really fulfill my sense of purpose.
My passion was calling, and it was calling me off my ivory tower, and into the streets.
So now I’m working as a contract worker with VillageCo where I charge less than minimum wage for the 30 or so hours I work each week.
This arrangement I’m calling “intentional poverty.” I’m not looking to earn any more money than the $1,100 per month, and I’m arranging my lifestyle around this cap on income.
How It Works
Most of what I earn goes to rent. Fortunately I have some roommates, and together we cover the cost of the house. The rest goes to utilities. I have a little left over for my Cell phone, Spotify, and to pay on my credit card.
I have to keep a credit card for emergency expenses like when I needed new tires last year, or if/when my dog needs to go to the vet. I just pay on that each month, and pay it off as best I can when my tax return comes around. I don’t have a savings — in fact, I would not qualify for public assistance if I had more than $5,000 in assets, and my car covers most of that.
For food, I eat on $280/mo from food stamps. I have a special debit card that auto-refills each month. I make a giant salad each week for my lunches, and cook something nice for dinners. My favorite dishes are Coconut Curry, Mushroom Soup, and chili.
And I travel frequently to Seattle — any cash I get from family, friends, selling things, or helping with odd jobs, that goes to fill up the tank.
It usually works out, and I have learned to not stress over bills each month. Sometimes I’m short, months I get by just fine. It’s all a part of the adventure of life. I’m not trying to escape it, I’m living it fully.
Living Intentionally to serve others
Why purposely earn so little?
Many reasons. The most obvious is that I work for a nonprofit. I work hard to raise money, and the less I take for myself, the less needs to be raised.
But it’s not all sacrifice. By earning less than $15,000 per year, I’m eligible for public health care and food stamps. I deeply appreciate these public benefits. I visit the doctor, get my teeth cleaned, and get all the food I need to stay healthy.
Another reason I CAN earn so little is my family. I have a wonderful, loving family. They have been gracious with me, offering me cash to get gas, helping with clothing and emergency needs, and also donating to the nonprofit where I work to support my efforts. If something bad happens, I know I can rely on my family to keep me off the streets.
I may be money poor, but I’m relationship rich.
That’s why I can stay at the bottom without falling on my butt: my family, my privileges, and my spirituality — they follow me wherever I go, even into poverty.
Lack of family, lack of steady income, and lack of help in accessing public benefits are the main reasons people end up homeless.
So what about vacations? Or new tech toys? Or dinner out with friends? Well, I’m finding there are a lot of ways to enjoy life. I’ve been meditating to connect deeper with my purpose. I’ve been camping to get out of the routines and into nature. And, I’ve been treated with special meals out by friends who seem to appreciate what I’m doing. So, I really don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything at all.
The Real Reason
Yes, all the reasons listed above are true. And, there’s this final reason, one that underlies all of them, and informs my worldview: I dislike money. While money does, in many ways, make the word go round… it’s also our grandest false idol. Even as most humans agree money cannot buy happiness, it still holds a strange power over us all.
I have felt a slave to money many times in my life. As an employee I worked in unhealthy ways and with disrespectful managers, and I complied silently because of the paycheck. As a consumer, I got sucked in by endless advertisements of happy transactions and problem-solving gadgets. P90X, the latest smart phone, that cool new subscription — none of them improved my life satisfaction as advertised. Just as many business owners are more interested in selling out than sticking it out, so too our economy celebrates making people rich rather than helping us take care of our complex, interconnected world.
I’m happy to be divorced from a life-long relationship with money. I no longer fall prey to the siren call of consumerism. I don’t see the government as a business, I see it as a grand human project to live together peacefully. I’m deeply grateful for the human services like healthcare and food. I wish everyone had access to these basic human needs for free as well. I feel bad so many people must work for food, and wed a business for healthcare. Maybe in the future things will be better.
In the meantime, I couldn’t be happier, living outside the economy, and at the heart of community.
I’m at the best place I’ve been in my whole life — I have shifted my survival strategy from money to community. I no longer see the world as rich or poor, I see us as connected (or not), and in service to each other. The difference feels like a spiritual one, which is why I feel like intentional poverty is so awesome.
