By: WPgogo
Indeed, mixing the spices yourself is cheaper and tastier and more fun.
To buy spices from ethnic stores becomes easier if you know some foreign names. I find this list most helpful to get spice names translated into Hindi, tamil, indonesion, Spanish. A whole new shopping opportunity opens up for you.
http://www.waterlily-unlimited.nl/spice/index.html
By: Barry Wilson
Great ideas - thank you for sharing! I hadn't ever considered how seasoning mixes were wasting money - but now I realize how much I could be saving... thanks!
By: Poor to Rich
LOL Elaine! Yeah I have thought about shopping onlne for them, I just never seem to think of it when I am shopping online!
Edward, I wish we had ethnic stores in my area, unfortuantly that is a downside to tiny rural areas.....I would have to drive over an hour for an ethnic store :(
By: Elaine@mortgagefreeinthree.com
Or check out buying spices online - there are about 3-4 fantastic websites here in the UK that you can buy spices at wholesale rate.
Poor to Rich - I can feel a "Red Cross Spice Parcel" coming on as those prices are outrageous my love.
By: Skint in the City
Couldn't agree more with this. I think all pre-prepared spice mixes aren't just overpriced, but also inferior in terms of taste to ones you can make yourself. For the cheapest spices I go to ethnic stores. I can pick up big packs of cumin, paprika, coriander etc for less than £1, whereas titchy jars of the same stuff costs around £1.50 in supermarkets.
By: Poor to Rich
That really depends on where you live, spices are incredibly high in my area, family many times have been giving me spices as a gift due to the outrageous rip off prices in my area. A tiny tiny bottle of chili powser is over $4 where I live , curry tiny bottle for $5! Seriously ridiculous prices yet I found a huge bottle of taco seasoning on sale for $3 so for me although not healthy, definatly cheaper than buying the individual spices to mix my own! Sigh, really need to get a herb garden put in!
By: Mary
Good points here, Ed.....and if you don't want to store all the different ingredients needed, you can buy them fresh from bulk stores as you need them. Once mixed, they last a long time and you don't need to wonder if you remembered to pick up the packet. Another good thing to doing it yourself is that you don't get all the added salt! It's amazing how much sodium is in those packages!
By: MoneySmartGuides
Great point as to why most people buy the packet as opposed to making it themself: intimidation. The same applies to managing your money. When you are intimidated, you will simply keep your money in a savings account and not earning a higher return. Take some time to educate yourself on the topic and you will benefit enormously.