Welcome to TF! Perlite is just one of the many media that people use.... or choose NOT to use. Since many CP's grow in a nutrient poor soil, the basic idea to provide a media that doesn't have salts or fertilizers. What plants are you wanting to cultivate? For CP's, it is the texture properties that are important. Some are designed to drain well. Others are for water retention. Other good media are sand (like pool filter sand), sphagnum peat (in the 2.2 or 3.8 bales), LFS (small bags of Long Fibred Sphagnum). I'm not a big Perlite user, mainly sticking with mixing sand & peat, with LFS on top, but many people who grow Asian pitcher plants use Perlite, and or peat and orchid bark, needles.....
Do you have a Home Depot nearby? Or a Walmart? We can also mail you some if absolutely necessary!