“Can you spend gold or silver? “
Sure, in Idaho, you can pay your taxes with it, and now in Utah you can legally use Gold and Silver Eagles as tender as long as the two parties agree to do so. Besides, there are lots of people who prefer to deal in silver (I haven’t seen any in gold). In my area there are lots of people who will provide goods and services in exchange for silver. Check for craigslist, under barter. Also, there are “alternative market” websites, where you can look up stores and businesses that take silver. (There are several, again, in my area, I dunno about yours).
So the plain answer is “YES!” and more everyday.
Here is a link to a brand new site, launched last most, in conjunction with the “Oath Keepers”:
http://www.alt-market.com/
There are other sites to find out who will accept silver near you. The liberty dollar site was shut down, but they had quite a few listings more than the newly launched project. While I have never done that kind of barter, I have heard of people who have done so, and were pleased. I don’t see why not either, the dollar drops in value everyday more are printed. Good luck.