The barter system has taken a backseat to a more modern economy for the past several thousand years, however this system should not be thought of as an antiquated notion of the past. For the frugalista this can be one of if not the most important tools at their disposal. And its a growing trend.

The Washington Times reports that since the "Great Recession" started Craigslist.org, the free classified-ad Web site, has doubled its traffic on its bartering boards over last year.

And the barter site U-exchange.com has had to upgrade its servers twice to accommodate interest. Membership has nearly doubled since last May to 61,734. From January through mid-May, page views saw a 125% jump over the previous year - increasing to nearly 4.5 million, PVs, according to Kevin Simpson of The Denver Post.