16 Ways to Live for Free

And Leave the Rat Race

Leave the Rat Race

The other day I was approached by a young man who found me sitting drinking tea outside the yoga studio where I teach. After some small talk about yoga, he told me that he was beginning to question his life. He works remotely and is traveling around reevaluating his situation. “My job is exhausting. I’m in the rat race all the time. I need to get out.” He waved in the direction of his red Tesla sports car and asked if he really needed such a fancy car.

Then he said to me, “You seem like you live a really relaxed life.” He could tell from my composure and disposition that I wasn’t stressed. I giggled because little did he know. I told him that I live off the grid and, yeah, I live a relaxed life. I teach yoga, write, make art and keep expenses low. I choose to live a slower existence, which makes me happier.

As inflation rises and making a sustainable income becomes more challenging, people are beginning to wonder if there is a different way. I don’t know what will become of that young man but based on our conversation, I think he’ll figure out the right path for himself. There are many different lifestyle choices that anyone can make to begin a life of more ease. The current paradigm of catching up with tireless productivity, keeping up with the Jones, ambitious striving, feelings of dissatisfaction, and believing that you never have enough is coming to an end as people wake up and realize it’s not making them any happier.

But what to do? Who would quit their job in this economy? It’s scary out there.

Quit Your Job Today

At Our Uncertain Future, we write about our lifestyle off the grid to show people there is another way. We bought our off-grid fixer upper in cash and paid it off within a couple of years. Buying cheap land and putting an off-grid tiny home and some solar panels on it is one way to lower your housing costs and free up your life. But this isn’t the only way. In fact, you can quit your job right now and live for free.

When I was in my twenties, I lived for a month at the Yoga Farm, a Sivananda ashram in upstate New York. In exchange for karmic yoga or selfless service, which in my case entailed gardening and occasionally cooking and laundry, I could live relatively free. For a small fee and some work exchange, I received free room, board, satsang and yoga. I looked up recent prices, and you currently can pay $900 per month to live in a dorm, $700 if you stay in a tent. Of course, this requires devotion to the practice of yoga, which I had at the time and continue to have today.

A few years later, I landed another great opportunity while living in Alaska. Working as a Resident Advisor in a boarding school in bush Alaska, I received free room and board PLUS a living wage. Eric had a job in the same village (that’s where we met) working for the radio station, which gave him free housing and a car to use on top of his salary. On one hand, we lived where we worked and sometimes it was hard to separate the two. On the other hand, in the bush there was nothing to spend money on, so we were able to save up and after two years, we went backpacking in Asia for six months with the money we saved.

Live for Free and Live Free

These opportunities such as Resident Advisor and ashram community member still exist. I compiled a list of 16 more ways that you can live for free or for a nominal amount in exchange for work. These aren’t only for the young and unattached; there are places where families and couples can live as well. Depending on your personality and interests, some are more community oriented while others are more autonomous. Some opportunities include travel too. I include these details in the listing, as well as links as to where you can find these opportunities.

This list of 16 ways to live for free, is for paid subscribers only. It took a lot of research, years of life experience, and hours hunched over a laptop when I could have been outside to pull this list together, so this is a way of maintaining a fair exchange. It also says thanks to the folks who support this work and puts some respect on the time and effort behind it. If you’d like to become a paid subscriber and access this full content, simply click below to upgrade.