When buying herbs and/or spices, do so a tablespoon or so at a time, rather than the higher priced "packaged" ones. This means you will have fresher, and it costs far less. Also, look in Mexican aisles as they often have smaller packages of herbs/spices that are far cheaper than in the "American" ones; and from what I understand many can be found far less expensive in Asian markets as well!
If you do not have older spice bottles, look at places like the "as is" Goodwill store, use baby jars that are cleaned, or check freecycle or other local recycling places!
It's easy to make "tags" for your new spice containers. I use "season greetings" tabs I got for a dime at a yard sale and they work great! You can easily "make" your own from blank paper, old envelopes, piece of typing paper, etc. Simply put on with scotch tape. This way the spices and herbs are used quickly and don't have the time to get "old" on you!
Also if you come across an excellent buy, but aren't sure how you would ever use that much say, cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice,. you can give to others to use.
I found out about checking out Asian markets when checking recipes online
By katrina from Medford, Oregon
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
Spices can be expensive. So first I hit Dollar Tree, Big Lots or Aldis for the ordinary spices.
At WalMart and most grocery stores check the Hispanic foods section. There was ground cumin for 84 cents for 1 1/2 oz. McCormick's ground cumin was 2.82 for 2 oz.
Tips for saving money on spices. Visit your local bulk store where you can buy only a little bit of the spice you need at a time.
