101 Low Cost Items To Barter When The SHTF

I would be preaching the choir if I told you that it is wise to gather extra supplies that you can use for bartering in a post-collapse world.  The issue for many, however, is that their budget allows no room for extras.  Finding funds for long term personal preps, let alone daily needs can be an ongoing challenge.

Let’s face it. We all know that the middle class is disappearing.  Food and health care costs are up and even those with comfortable nest eggs are finding that their funds are rotting, earning virtually no interest and suffering the ravages of inflation. So what are we to do?

The first rule of thumb is to acquire skills that can be bartered for goods.  That is the smart thing to do regardless of your financial situation.  Beyond that, there are a number of low cost items that you can accumulate over time, even if you are poor.

Backdoor Survival reader Elaine K. sent me her list of “poor man’s barter items”.  It gave me so many ideas that I expanded the list to include even more items.  Here it is: 101 low cost items to barter if the stuff hits the fan.

Poor Man’s Barter Items

1. Candles
2. Garden tools
3. Fly swatters
4. Insect spray
5. Rat & mouse poison
6. Rodent traps
7. Scissors
8. Needles
9. Straight pins
10. Safety pins
11. Buttons
12. Thread
13. Elastic-material
14. Dry beans
15. Rice
16. Noodles
17. Flour
18. Spices such as cinnamon, cloves, allspice, sage, parsley etc.
19. Coffee
20. Cooking Oil
21. Coffee filters
22. Pepper
23. Sugar
24. Salt
25. Hand crank or manual can openers
26. Canned food – any type
27. Wooden, strike anywhere matches
28. Old newspapers
29. Wax for fire-starting
30. Large cotton balls with soaked in petroleum jelly (also for starting fires)
31. Bleach (or freshly made pool shock)
32. Baby wipes (Note:  these can be used to clean face, hands, arm pits, groin in case there is no water. If dried out, pour in a cup of water into container)
33. Cocoa
34. Baking Soda
35. Spirits:  wine, whisky, beer, vodka, brandy
36. Coloring books & crayons
37. Scrap paper
38. Pencils
39. Ballpoint pens
40. Copy paper
41. Lined notebook paper
42. Tooth paste
43. Toothbrushes
44. Dental floss
45. Combs
46. Hair brushes
47. Disposable razors
48. Nail clippers and files
49. Feminine products
50. Bars of soap
51. Toilet paper
52. Hair pins
53. Batteries
54. Cigarettes
55. Tobacco
56. Cigarette lighters
57. Tobacco seeds
58. Aluminum foil
59. Plastic sheeting
60. Socks – all sizes & colors
61. Shoe laces
62. Reading glasses
63. Garbage bags (can’t have too many)
64. Brooms
65. Dust pans
66. Clothes pins
67. Clothes lines
68. Garbage cans
69. Shoelaces
70. Rope of any type
71. Honey
72. Hard candy
73. Popcorn
74. Kool-aid
75. Ibuprofen, Tylenol, and aspirin
76. Essential oils
77. Cough syrup
78. Eye drops
79. Band aids
80. Laxatives
81. Lip balm or chapstick
82. Axes
83. Nails, nuts, bolts, & screws
84. Heirloom garden seeds
85. Fresh garden produce and herbs
86. Herb plants
87. Hand garden tools
88. Two cycle oil
89. Automotive oil and air filters
90. Paperback books
91. Plastic tarps
92. Duct tape
93. Fels naphtha bar soap
94. Washing/laundry soda
95. Borax
96. Oxyclean
97. Home made laundry detergent
98. Garden compost
99. Garden fertilizer
100. Plastic tubs & containers
101. Petroleum jelly (Vaseline)

The Final Word

Elaine K. is sixty-six years old and has been a widow since 1985.  Like many of us, old and young, times have been tough and she has had to teach herself survival by embracing plain old common sense.  Sound familiar?

When she first wrote to me, she indicated that she wanted to do something to help others.  I am sure you will agree that her list is an inspiration to get started gathering low cost items that will be invaluable in a barter-society if and when the SHTF.

Now tell me, can you thing of more inexpensive if not downright cheap items to accumulate for barter purposes?

Enjoy your next adventure through common sense and thoughtful preparation!

Gaye Levy, also known as the Survival Woman, grew up and attended school in the Greater Seattle area. After spending many years as an executive in the software industry, she started a specialized accounting practice offering contract CFO work to emerging high tech and service industries. She has now abandoned city life and has moved to a serenely beautiful rural area on an island in NW Washington State. She lives and teaches the principles of a sustainable and self-reliant lifestyle through her website at BackdoorSurvival.com. At Backdoor Survival, Gaye speaks her mind and delivers her message of prepping with optimism and grace, regardless of the uncertain times and mayhem swirling around us.