Poor Man’s Barter Items:
Here are a few “poor man’s barter items” to get started with on any budget.

Candles
Fly swatters
Insect spray
Rat & mouse poison
Rodent traps
Scissors
Needles
Straight pins
Safety pins
Buttons
Thread
Elastic-material
Dry beans
Rice
Noodles
Flour
Spices such as cinnamon, cloves, allspice, sage, parsley etc.
Coffee
Cooking Oil
Coffee filters
Pepper
Sugar
Salt
Hand crank or manual can openers
Canned food – any type
Wooden, strike anywhere matches
Old newspapers
Wax for fire-starting
Large cotton balls with soaked in petroleum jelly (also for starting fires)
Bleach (or freshly made pool shock)
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)
Cocoa
Baking Soda
Coloring books & crayons
Scrap paper
Pencils
Ballpoint pens
Copy paper
Lined notebook paper
Tooth paste
Toothbrushes
Dental floss
Combs
Hard candy
Hair brushes
Disposable razors
Nail clippers and files
Feminine products
Bars of soap
Toilet paper
Hair pins
Cigarette lighters
Tobacco seeds
Aluminum foil
Plastic sheeting
Socks – all sizes & colors
Shoe laces
Reading glasses
Garbage bags (can’t have too many)
Brooms
Dust pans
Clothes pins
Clothes lines
Garbage cans
Dryer Lint (to use as firestarter)
Rope of any type
Honey
Popcorn
Kool-aid
Ibuprofen, Tylenol, and aspirin
Essential oils
Cough syrup
Eye drops
Band aids
Laxatives
Lip balm or chapstick
Nails, nuts, bolts, & screws
Heirloom garden seeds
Fresh garden produce and herbs
Herb plants
Hand garden tools
Two cycle oil
Automotive oil and air filters
Paperback books
Plastic tarps
Duct tape
Fels naphtha bar soap
Washing/laundry soda
Borax
Oxyclean
Home made laundry detergent
Garden compost
Garden fertilizer
Plastic tubs & containers
Petroleum jelly (Vaseline)