Ever think that people are too obsessed with money?

Reckon that society could go without it?

If so, meet the man who hasn’t used money - not a cent - for a month. 

24-year-old Mathew Marsh, originally from the New Zealand capital of Wellington, has gone without using money for the previous four weeks while backpacking up and down the eastern coast. 

In place of physical currency he trades copies of his self-produced music CD and physical labour in exchange for food and accommodation. 

He’s already traded his music for some fairly expensive goods and services in Douglas, such as an eye exam and some contacts from Coral Coast Optometrists and a taxi ride. 

Currently hanging out in the Kuranda and Port Douglas area, Matt plans to ‘go bush’ for a while and live off the land before heading back down the coast to Byron Bay, where he started his moneyless adventure a month ago.

Mat admits that he’s also getting by a lot on charity and ‘dumpster diving’ but maintains that his way of living is sustainable. 

“What I see myself as doing is exploring different methods of getting what you want,” he said. 

“It’s been very serendipitous, so many times I have been thinking ‘I want something, I need something’ and suddenly the means for me getting it will appear - I’ll run into someone that can help me or I’ll find my own way of doing it.

“I think I could live this way until the day I die if I wanted to - the idea was to start with nothing and create all my dreams from nothing.”

Mat, a musician, plays in several different bands at various shows along his journeys. 

He claims all the money he earns from the shows goes either to charity or is turned into CDs which he trades on his currency-free adventure. 

Happy High Herbs owner Ella Shannon, who has been helping Mat with accommodation, said that his story was genuine. 

“Mat has helped us heaps because we’ve been moving house and he’s really been handy, so we’ve helped him out in return, giving him a roof over his head from time to time,” she said. 

“He really hasn’t used any money the time he’s been with us, he’s a really interesting guy with a very interesting story.”