My Top 6 Best Items to Barter With: Bartering Basics
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*All information in this post is my opinion and gathered through my own research. Please do your own research before following any information in this post. This is for information purposes only. Also consult your doctor before taking any supplements*
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Have you ever thought about how you would be able to buy the things you need if money was no longer available. This could be a real scenario at some point in the future.

It could happen If there was a large natural disaster and the banks weren’t able to open or if there is a world wide event that made your money unavailable.
In this article I will go through the 6 best items to barter with in an emergency/survival situation. Let’s dive in…….
Here are the 6 best items to barter with………

1. Coffee………..
According to many sources 80% of the world’s population consumes some form of caffeine on a daily basis. In one of my previous posts labeled What Are The Best Foods To Stock Up On For An Emergency/Survival Situation? (My Top 9 Picks)
I talked about the following scenario:
If you are an avid coffee/caffeine drinker then I want you to think about a time when you woke up and realized you were out of coffee.
Now imagine there is no coffee available for the foreseeable future. Let the headaches, lethargy, and crankiness begin.
I have been here a few times and it definitely isn’t a fun place to be. So if you are a coffee or caffeine drinker, for your sake and everyone’s sake around you stock up on some coffee or caffeinated beverage of your choice.
What I personally do is keep several bags of whole bean coffee in our basement pantry and I also have several bags of a survival coffee that I reviewed here.
Coffee That Can Be Stored Long Term For Emergency Situations.

One of the things that I mention in the above review is that coffee can also be used as an awesome bartering tool. Imagine this scenario. You haven’t had coffee in a couple days. You have a pounding headache and feel lethargic.
What do you think you would be willing to trade for a cup of coffee to get rid of your withdraw symptoms?
Food for thought. Pun intended…..
So as you can see by putting yourself in the above scenario, having some extra coffee on hand can be like little nuggets of brown gold in an emergency/survival situation.
Even if you don’t drink coffee, as you saw above 80% of the world does, so it would be a good idea to grab a couple bags of coffee and store them to be used as a barter tool if necessary.
The link mentioned above will take you to a survival brand of coffee that has a shelf life of 30 yrs. I personally keep about 12 bags of this stuff in my food prep on top of 4 bags of whole bean coffee.
2. Sugar…….
To go along with the first items secondly come sugar. The second addictive substance on this list. Imagine again having no access to sugar.
Think about your mental health. I don’t know about you but I have went through sugar withdrawals many times and it definitely isn’t a fun time.
During an emergency situation staple items like this may not be available. From what I have researched, if you keep sugar in an air tight container with no moisture in it than it should keep indefinitely.

It was also be a good idea to keep some kind of baggies around to be able to divy up the sugar into smaller portions to be able to trade it for what you may need.
Like I said above sugar withdrawal is a real thing and it isn’t any fun.
According to Medical News Today here are some of the symptoms you can expect to have if you are going through sugar withdrawal:
People may experience unpleasant symptoms when they initially cut sugar from their diets. These can include:
- cravings for sweet or high calorie foods
- headaches
- lack of energy
- muscle aches
- nausea
- bloating
- stomach cramps
- irritability or anxiety
- feeling down or depressed
None of these are fun so my suggestion is to have an ample supply of sugar that can be used for you and your family, but can also be used to barter if the need arises.
There are many different kinds of food safe storage options that you can look into to keep your sugar safe for along time.
3. Gasoline
Alright. My next item to talk about is gasoline. There has been many situations in my small town where gas all of a sudden became unavailable.
If you have gotten the pleasure of experiencing this kind of situation then you know the chaos that ensues.

The mob mentality kicks in and you see people who are normally calm suddenly become on edge and may do things they would never do before.
This can happen for many different situations. We have had power outages, snow storms, and as of late even gas shortages.
So what I choose to do and recommend to do is keep extra gas stored. I use the product sta-bil. This has worked very well for me. It keeps the gas for going bad for about a year.

What I do is keep some extra containers of gas stored and rotate them as I use them for our everyday things. The amount of gas you should store will be contingent on what all you plan to use it for.
What you need to think about is how much gas you normally use and what you want to still be able to use in an emergency/survival situation.
Do you have a back up generator that you need fuel for? Do you want to be able to fill up your car? Mow your grass?
Do you need extra containers to be able to trade the gas with others? As I have said before, I am all about helping others out if I am able to but there are times you may need to trade things for stuff you need.
So it would be a good idea to at least have some extra gas set aside to be able to continue on if your local gas station becomes unavailable.
They are many different kinds of storage containers out there in many different size. You could also look into storing different kinds of fuel, for example kerosene.
Everyone’s situation will be a little different.
4. Your Skills
A some time overlooked thing when it comes to bartering is your skills. Are you able to sew, or what about being able to build things?
Everyone has some skill that can be used to help others and can be traded for other things or services.
Think back to some of our ancestors. Have you ever heard someone talk about when they were about to trade a chicken or two for medical services?

Spend a little time thinking about, what am I good at that someone else would be able to benefit from. This could be a long list of all kinds of different things.
Someone might need help building something, cooking, or a whole other list of things.
So when your thinking about different products you have in your house to be able to barter with, make sure you don’t forget about your personal skills. This cost you nothing because you already have the skills.
If for some reason you can’t think of something you would be able to do in these situations then you could consider taking some kind of class or picking up a hobby now before something happens. This could benefit you now and in the future.
5. Batteries
Next on the list is batteries. Think of how many things run on batteries. I personally like to keep several packages of batteries of all the common sizes that we use in our home.
Think about a time, when you are dead asleep, and you hear the dreaded smoke detector beeping.
From many past experiences you know that the detector needs a new battery. I have been here many times unfortunately.
Tip toeing through the house trying to find the random beeping while trying not to wake the kids.

Thankfully I like to be prepared, so just like I said above I like to keep several packages of the common sizes in my basement. Because of this I was able to go downstairs, get another battery, and fix the obnoxious smoke detector.
We also have several flashlights, lanterns, and a sound machine that runs on batteries. This comes in very handy when the power goes out.
We usually sleep with a fan so when the power goes out it can be brutal. The sound machine is a life savor.
In short, batteries are a great thing to stock up on. They come in handy for any emergency or everyday situation. They can also be used for an excellent bartering tool.
More than likely someone around you will need batteries, so you will be able to trade with them for the things you need.
Lastly, Though it can vary by brand, alkaline batteries generally have a shelf life of 5-10 years when they are stored at room temperature. So because of this you can store them and know eventually you will probably use them.

6. Last But Not Least Small Denominations Of Money
What I am talking about here is small bills. You don’t want to be carrying around large sums of big bills.
First people more than likely won’t have change and secondly it will be more enticing for them to try and take them from you.
This is all assuming that our currency is still worth something at this point. This will be more for a short disruption when the banks or electricity is down for awhile.
Carrying small bills allows you to give someone exact amounts of money so you don’t have to worry about flashing the remaining money you have or them being able to have the ability to give you change back. Always think about your safety also.
Take things to protect yourself, meet in public places, and if possible trade with people you trust.
In Conclusion……..
As a reminder these are only my top 6 items to barter with. Yours may be different depending on your situation and location.
Take some time to think about things that would be good for you and your family to store up for your use and to use for bartering if needed.

I hope this article got your minds thinking about how you can be better prepared for what comes your way.
P.S. You will notice that I didn’t include silver or gold on this list. This is because I personally believe it would be hard to trade these kind of things in these types of situations.
That is why I choose everyday items that you can use and barter with at the same time.
Check out this survival food company below for a done for your option: