Why I Buy Spices in the Bulk Section

 

Have you ever noticed that spices are expensive?   Well, they are.  Not only are they expensive, but I have found that some spices sit in my cabinet so long that they end up expiring and I throw them away.  Did you know that some stores sell spices in bulk?  Winco is one of those stores!  Back in the bulk section, there is a spot for bulk spices.  You can fill a bag with as much or as little spice as you want/need, and you pay a set price/pound.  

I snapped the above picture at Walmart the other day.  It is of a .8oz bottle of ground ginger, and it costs $2.38.  At Winco, 1 oz. of ground ginger works out to about $.32.  That's a huge difference!  

Here's the math for a pound of this spice:

• 1 pound of ground ginger in the bulks at Winco= $5.06
• 1 pound worth of containers at Walmart (with the $2.38 for .8 oz price)= $47.60

Total savings per pound for ground ginger when buying bulk vs. containers=$42.54!!!!

If you don't like having lots of bags filled with various spices in your cabinet, Winco (and many other places, I'm sure), sells plastic spice containers for $.88 (the larger ones).  You can just keep refilling them over and over!

This is just an example of the savings for one spice.  Imagine if you started to buy all your spices in the bulk section!  If you cook a lot, you will save a TON of money!  And the best part about this: no coupon required :)

Update:  Go HERE to see pictures (and a tutorial) of some old glass olive jars that I refashioned into beautiful spice jars!  Now my spice cabinet is frugal AND beautiful!