In yesterday’s discussion of how unit pricing can save you money, John made a passing comment that merits closer attention. He wrote:
I use unit price all the time when shopping and it’s super convenient that the stores do it for you. I did an analysis of spices that come prepackaged versus a bulk food store here and the difference is ridiculous!
John wanted to stock up on basic spices, but didn’t want to spend a fortune. He priced three different brands at a local grocery store to find out how much it would cost if he purchased 100g of each item on his list. He found that:
- If he bought bottles of a popular national brand it would cost $86.89.
- The same spices would only cost $40.22 from a lesser-known brand.
- Generic spices would only set him back $19.01.
After pricing spices in the grocery store, he priced them at Bulk Barn, a Canadian bulk-food warehouse. 
He found that the spices were much, much cheaper when purchased in bulk. They cost him only $7.58, less than than 10% of buying the national brand. (Note that here “in bulk” means John bought them loose, scooping his portions into bags.)
Looking at a larger list of spices, John would have spent an astounding $175.17 to buy the big-name brand. The same ingredients cost only $11.36 at Bulk Barn.
Some people are quick to dismiss the value of frugality. “Pinching pennies doesn’t pay,” they say. I disagree. Obviously it’s important to boost your income, but thrift takes little time and can yield huge dividends. Frugality is about changing habits and perspective. Besides, it’s easier for most people to learn the value of unit pricing than it is for them to start their own business.
John’s story makes me curious. When we were in college, Kris and I shopped at a bulk food store. We’d go home with bags and bags of spices, cereal, dried fruit, and other food for cheap. Looking back, I haven’t been inside such a place since we were married fifteen years ago. Do they still exist in Portland? Apparently so, but just barely. (Costco is not the same thing. You can’t buy a small amount of anything at Costco. Also, Portland does have Limbo, a produce/spice stand next to the Trader Joe’s on 39th. Limbo has an entire aisle of bulk spices.)
[A Financial Flogging: Spice up your wallet, image by Adam Baker]
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i have really good luck buying spices at a local 99 cent store. it operates as a sort of dry goods ethnic grocery store in a less-well-to-do neighborhood, and i go in for spices and cleaning products all the time.
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I like to add lots of flavor to my food but the “gourmet” spices are very expensive in the store. I now buy most of my spices from a local Indian grocer. Huge price difference! McCormick will charge $11 for a small bottle of cardamon pods, but a large bag is $3 at an Indian grocer. Same for more ordinary spices like cinnamon etc. Most likely anything you buy imported from ethnic grocers are organic even if not labeled
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Two other items that compare well in bulk at regular chain stores:
Recently we needed a few walnuts for a recipe and are two hours from a Trader Joe’s. In Basha’s, a family owned chain, there were walnuts in clear plastic tubs in the produce aisle, walnuts in bags in the baking aisle and walnuts in bulk in the 1/2 aisle devoted to “health food.” Buying just the amount we needed by scooping them into a bag was also cheapest per pound.
Baby Spring Greens in the Safeway produce aisle look expensive at around $6.00 a pound for salad when place next to iceburg lettuce fior $1.29. But the bagged spring greens are about $4 for seven ounces and you get whatever’s in the bag. When the loose greens look fresh, they’re definitely a better buy. A bowlful weighs only a couple ounces and you can pick around any that look wilted. (Wash well.)
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Another place in Portland for decent bulk spices (and other bulk items) is Sheridan Fruit Company.
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For people in TX, some of the larger HEB’s have a bulk food section… spices, nuts, coffee beans, granola (it’s overpriced, though). I love to just go and look around, even if I don’t buy anything!
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We bought restaurant size canisters of black pepper and cinnamon at Costco 5 years ago for about $3.50 each and are still using them. I don’t notice any loss in potency; the pepper is still peppery and the cinnamon still tastes great in apple pies and cinnamon toast.
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A big thank-you to all the Portlanders who suggested Winco to us. We made a trip over there this afternoon, and while we didn’t buy much from the bulk bins, we did find some of our common items on sale for much less. I’m a huge Nalley chili fan, for example, and Winco’s price was fantastic. They also have some cuts of meat (beef brisket, for example) that we’ve had difficulty finding elsewhere. Though this store is a little far for us to shop at regularly (it’s 20 minutes away), it’s certainly worth considering for special occasions, or for when we happen to be in that neck of the woods. (And if we combine it with a Costco trip, it’s even better…)
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Last year I planted rosemary, oregano, lavender, thyme, mint, lemon balm and sage, which are perennials. All of them lasted throughout the winter and this year I have more than I could possibly ever use. I know these are technically herbs, not spices, but they are just as expensive in most grocery stores. Each plant cost about $2 and will keep growing indefinitely. I estimate that I used to go through two or three of the little bottles of oregano a year. I eat a lot of pasta. Another bonus is the fresh herbs taste about a million times better than dried.
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Another vote for Winco. I went to college out in Forest Grove, and my roommates and I kept our food bill insanely low courtesy of the Hillsboro Winco. I love that place. I’ve lived in Michigan for two years now, and I still miss shopping at Winco.
I’m glad you enjoyed your trip there! I suggest working it into your routine and finding something else to do in the area (are there any good biking/jogging paths nearby?) so that you can justify regular trips. It’s totally worth the cost savings.
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In our grocery store, there are the traditional spice display (McCormick, etc) and the “Shop the World” spice area. The World aisle sells a lot of Goya brand stuff and other Central American staples (we live in an immigrant neighborhood). I found that I can buy two packets of Thyme (a favorite) for under $2 in the World aisle, but a bottle of McCormick Thyme costs over $7. Since then, we switched to Goya or other off brand spices, only giving in when we need something odd, like Savory.
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Always buy spices at the Indian store if you can-they are usually good quality as the turnover is high and way way cheaper. Many sources online too if you google Indian groceries.
Think like a scientist (I am one) and store unused spices -ground or whole-in the freezer. At minus 20 degrees they, like many chemicals and biologicals, are stable for ages. Thats where I keep my stocks-they last for years and don’t go off. A few, like black cardamom, get bugs and the freezing fixes that as well.
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Spices are a lot cheaper if you get them in them in the mexican aisle. They come in bags instead of the handy little dispensers, but at my store you can get cayenne pepper and oregano for less than $1 a bag. A container from the spice aisle costs about $4-5.
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Another tip for the Indian grocery store.
I now buy all my hand/bath soap there. Specifically Mysore sandalwood soap-it is superb quality, has the true sandalwood oil scent (Mysore is where most of it comes from), is much cheaper than grocery store soap, so that I now ship cases of it to friends…. No more boring unscented Ivory. The range these stores carry is large and well worth exploring. Nag Champa (plumeria) and rose for example.
Butter is excellent quality (Amul) made of proper high butterfat milk unlike wimpy American butter, and which behaves correctly when you cook with it.
Yogurt-excellent quality, better prices, w/o that weird gelatiny consistency american yogurt has. Again-it behaves correctly when you cook with it.
If you go to one, explore the non-spice items as well-often well worth it in my view.
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The best deal you can imagine can be found at sfherb.com.
I buy tea in bulk; imagine buying the world’s best teas by the pound for the same price you’d pay for a small box of the equivalent tea bags. My husband and I make a pot of tea every afternoon in the coffemaker. Anyone can have a pot of Darjeeling, the “champaign of tea” for a penny or two.
Per pound, herbs and spices cost about what a one-ounce bottle of grocery store spice, and since their products move quickly, all of it is very, very fresh.
The teas and spices go straight into the freezer where they keep indefinitely, without losing the volatile oils that make them what they are.
Sfherb.com (San Francisco Herb Company) has made us much better and more adventurous cooks and improved our lives.
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another option is going to ethnic food markets. i have found spices for a fraction of the cost at my favorite local mediterranean foods store because they buy in bulk and pass the savings on.
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Sadaf is a good brand found in most Mediterranean/Armenian/Persian markets-it has a wide range of high quality products at reasonable prices. Sadaf cardamom tea is particularly good.
Indian and Med. stores usually have very good deals on olive oil too-particularly larger containers, and many other oils worth trying-mustard, coconut, peanut,sesame, etc. All much tastier than corn oil, which I never use as it ends up in a film over everything and has a nasty aftertaste. Also-it doesnt seem to emulsify properly. I never buy oil at the grocery store any more. They are also better priced for dried fruit and nuts, with a larger variety available and less processed.
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You can buy bulk spices by the half oz at http://www.sensiblespices.com for less than $1 shipping included. Fresh, affordable and
small amounts that won’t sit in your spice rack for years.
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