I don't know about the actual storage, but you can abstract yourself from the actual data by using modules like Tie::File -- or you can use a module which allows you to treat a text file as an SQL database, but I get the feeling that's not thing that's bothering you. It would still be a big ugly text file, but you wouldn't have to think about it as much.

Update: DBD::File and DBD::CSV would be the modules to check out for that text-as-SQL thing.

When you say no databases, do you mean not even dbm-type databases?
--

($_='jjjuuusssttt annootthheer
     pppeeerrrlll haaaccckkeer')=~y/a-z//s;print;
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