Frugal Tips and Tricks: Save Money With Bulk Spices!

With the holidays upon us, many of us will be turning on the oven and baking our favorite holiday treats. The scents of cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice and cloves will be filling the air. All of these spices can be so expensive and can send your grocery budget soaring. Today, I have a tip to help you save money while restocking your spice rack.

The tip? Check out the bulk foods section of your grocery store and see if they carry spices! If so, do a quick cost comparison and you will most likely find the bulk spices are significantly less expensive.

I have been buying my spices in bulk from Winco for several years and have never been disappointed with price or product. I just refilled my nutmeg jar for .80! On the spice isle (at Winco) a new jar of McCormick nutmeg is $2.98.

I picked a handful of spices and compared the price of the bulk spice and the McCormick spice (per ounce) at Winco. The first one was the most interesting. Check out the current price per POUND of bulk pumpkin pie spice. It's the exact same as 1.12 oz of McCormick! That means the McCormick is 14 times more than the bulk pumpkin pie spice. Crazy huh!

Pumpkin Pie Spice Bulk is .25 oz McCormick is 3.55 oz
Paprika Bulk is .27 oz McCormick is 1.26 oz
Curry Powder Bulk is .22 oz McCormick is 2.57 oz
Cinnamon Bulk is .17 oz McCormick is .62 oz
Parsley Bulk is .35 oz McCormick is 4.38 oz
Garlic Powder Bulk is .23 oz McCormick is .91 oz

Another benefit is that if I am trying a new recipe that calls for a small amount of a spice I don't usually have on hand, I can buy a very small amount and not have to drop $3-$5 on the spice isle just to try a new recipe that we may or may not like.