Do you like tacos? Do you make them at home? If so, you’ve probably bought one of those kits made by Taco Bell, Ortega, or Old El Paso. Or maybe you just buy the packet of seasoning packages and add that to the beef or turkey.
I am guilty of this. I buy the taco seasoning mixes all the time.
I hate to break this to you, but if you do too, we are wasting money on seasoning mixes.
Those seasoning packets are wildly overpriced and not that good for you seeing as they add all sorts of things to preserve seasoning for as long as possible.
In this post, I will show why you are wasting money on seasoning mixes and how to save money instead by making your own.
2 Reasons You Are Wasting Money On Seasoning Mixes
#1. Price
At my last visit to the grocery store, I looked at prices for these mixes, and those packets cost $1.19. If you want to try to save some money, you can buy the store brand for around $1. Of course you could steal the seasoning mix but that would be illegal.
To prepare the ingredients in the packet costs the manufacturer about $0.10. The other dollar goes towards packaging, marketing, and profit.
Look at it this way, 90% of your payment is convenience fee. Would you pay a 90% convenience fee for your mortgage? How about a 90% convenience fee for cashing a check? So why should you pay it for tacos and other meals you want to season?
The same idea holds true in the produce section. A pineapple will run you about $2. But if you buy the pack of fresh pineapple that has been cut, you are looking at over $4 for a quarter of a pineapple. You pay more for convenience all the time.
#2. Ingredients
Moving back to the seasoning mixes, if you look at the ingredients list on those packets, they contain a mix of spices plus whey, starch, and ascorbic acid. In theory, the starch would be a thickening agent, but it’s completely unnecessary. The spices thicken just fine without it. In reality, it’s just low cost filler.
The ascorbic acid is a preservative, and is rendered unneeded if you make it fresh. And then there is the whey. Well, I have no clue why whey is included, but it means that anyone with a lactose intolerance or dairy allergy can’t have it.
That’s just the list for one of the healthier ones. Others include MSG, food coloring, and cellulose. Cellulose in an indigestible tree fiber that is used in foods as a bulking agent. This means it is used to make it seem like there is more food then there really is.
. This means you can sign up, buy your spices and containers, get free 2-day shipping and.
I so agree – where is the “cheerleader smiley?” WE are playing with home made cuury paste at the moment – so far we have made Korma and Bhuna curries that out perform anything in a mix or a jar. Just soooo tasty – and NOTHING artificial, just cook up a batch and freeze the paste till you need it.
Whole batch (20 portions worth) cost less than one jar of sauce – no multiply that by your family’s favourite meals over a year or so and there are substantial savings to be made.
Elaine@mortgagefreeinthree.com recently posted..Simple Cushion covers
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.
MoneySmartGuides recently posted..What is Opportunity Cost?
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!
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!
Poor to Rich recently posted..Chicken Cheesy Nachos
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.
Skint in the City recently posted..How to Tame The Takeway
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.
Elaine@mortgagefreeinthree.com recently posted..In Praise of the Picnic
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 🙁
Poor to Rich recently posted..Bunk Bed Repurposed
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!
Barry Wilson recently posted..Building Your Team of Financial Wealth Experts
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