Suelo

{{short description|American simple living adherent (born 1961)}}

Daniel James Shellabarger (known as Daniel Suelo, or simply Suelo, and The Man Who Quit Money, born 1961) is an American simple living adherent who stopped using money in the autumn of 2000.{{cite book|title=The Man Who Quit Money|url=https://archive.org/details/manwhoquitmoney00mark|url-access=registration|author=Mark Sundeen|year=2012|page=[https://archive.org/details/manwhoquitmoney00mark/page/39 39]|isbn=978-1-59448-569-5 }} He was born in Arvada, Colorado, a suburb of Denver, and lives part-time in a cave near Moab, Utah when he is not wandering the country.

Suelo gained fame in October 2009 when his profile appeared in the US men's style print magazine Details.{{cite web|last=Ketcham |first=Christopher |url=http://www.details.com/culture-trends/career-and-money/200907/meet-the-man-who-lives-on-zero-dollars |title=Meet the Man Who Lives on Zero Dollars: Career + Money |publisher=Details |accessdate=20 October 2011}} This story was picked up by websites such as The Guardian in the UK,{{cite news|last=Osborne |first=Hilary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/blog/2009/jul/23/daniel-suelo-caveman |title=Daniel Suelo: Free spirit or freeloader? | Money | guardian.co.uk |work=The Guardian |location=UK |accessdate=20 October 2011 |date=23 July 2009}} The Huffington Post,{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/22/daniel-suelo-the-man-who_n_243148.html |title=Daniel Suelo: The Man Who Survives Without Money |work=Huffington Post |accessdate=20 October 2011 |first=Nick |last=Sabloff |date=22 July 2009}} and Matador Change.{{cite web|url=http://matadorchange.com/man-has-lived-9-years-without-money%E2%80%94social-rebel-or-simply-a-mooch |title=Man Has Lived 9 Years Without Money—Social Rebel or Simply a Mooch? |publisher=Matador Network |date=18 September 2009 |accessdate=20 October 2011}} He was also interviewed for the BBC in September 2009,{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/2009/09/090929_outlook_caveman.shtml |title=Daniel Suelo: The Modern Caveman |publisher=BBC |date=29 September 2009 |accessdate=20 October 2011}} by The Denver Post{{cite news|last=Blevins |first=Jason |url=http://www.denverpost.com/recommended/ci_13843274 |title=Moab man embraces simple life living in cave |work=The Denver Post |accessdate=20 October 2011 |date=22 November 2009}} in November 2009, and the Brazilian INFO{{cite web|author=Paula Rothman, de INFO Online |url=http://info.abril.com.br/noticias/tecnologias-verdes/abri-mao-do-dinheiro-ha-9-anos-25112009-5.shl |title=´Abri mão do dinheiro há 9 anos´ – INFO Online – (25/11/2009) |publisher=Info.abril.com.br |accessdate=20 October 2011}} in November 2009. His story has since been repeated by many websites and news agencies around the world. Suelo was the subject of a 2006 video profile entitled Moneyless in Moab (2006), by Gordon Stevenson{{cite web|url=http://www.everythingahead.com/MoneylessMoab/about.html |title=About MONEYLESS IN MOAB Documentary by GORDON STEVENSON |publisher=Everythingahead.com |accessdate=20 October 2011}} and a 2009 video profile entitled Zero Currency (2009), by Brad Barber{{cite web|url=http://www.bradbarber.net/bbsite/ZERO_CURRENCY.html |title=Zero Currency |publisher=Bradbarber.net |accessdate=20 October 2011}} as well as being featured on KBYU's Beehive Stories (2010), also by Brad Barber.{{cite web|url=http://www.kbyutv.org/programs/beehivestories/video/?id=107 |title=Beehive Stories | Explore Utah |publisher=Kbyutv.org |accessdate=20 October 2011}}

Penguin approached Suelo about writing an autobiography, but he said that he would not accept payment for telling his story and he would be interested to do so only if the book was given away for free. Penguin was not interested in this approach, but asked a friend of his, Mark Sundeen, about writing a biography. Sundeen wrote The Man Who Quit Money, which was published by Riverhead/Penguin in 2012, and Suelo did not accept any money from his book but requested that the publishers give away a number of copies to people for free, which they did at promotional book tours.{{cite web|title=UG#647 - Making The Universe Your Employer|url=http://www.unwelcomeguests.net/647|accessdate=12 April 2013}} A short film about Suelo, narrated by Mark Sundeen, is on BBC News Online.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17762033 |title=The American who quit money to live in a cave |work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |accessdate=19 April 2012}}

In 2016 Suelo moved back to his hometown to care for his aging parents,TEDxGrandJunction [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2o5gKAUaxM "The Gift Economy"] and has been using money in this capacity while still caring for his mother, who is in her nineties as of 2017.

Suelo is one of a number of individuals who voluntarily live without money. These include Mark Boyle, {{Interlanguage link|Tomi Astikainen|fi}}, the late {{Interlanguage link|Heidemarie Schwermer|de}} (1942–2016) and Jo Nemeth.Christopher Ketcham, [http://www.details.com/culture-trends/career-and-money/200907/meet-the-man-who-lives-on-zero-dollars "Meet the man who lives on zero dollars"], Details, July 2009{{cite web|url=http://www.tomiastikainen.com/contact/bio |title=Biography |publisher=Tomi Astikainen |accessdate=20 October 2011}}[http://livingwithoutmoney.org/about-the-film/about-heidemarie/ Heidemarie Schwermer] Living without MoneyStefanie Marsh, [https://web.archive.org/web/20110811113126/http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/article6928744.ece "Living without money"], The Times, 24 November 2009{{cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/feb/01/meet-the-woman-who-lives-without-money-i-feel-more-secure-than-when-i-was-earning | title=Meet the woman who lives without money: 'I feel more secure than when I was earning' | work=The Guardian | date=31 January 2025 }} Suelo appeared as a guest writer on Mark Boyle's blog in January 2011.{{cite web|url=http://www.justfortheloveofit.org/blog-4124~the-moneyless-human-#1---daniel-suelo |title=Promoting Skillsharing | Learn Skills, share tools, save money and make great new friends |publisher=justfortheloveofit.org |accessdate=20 October 2011}}