My best advice is "buy what you use and use what you buy"...otherwise known as "know yourself."
For example, when it comes to seasoning, I know I use dill, cinnamon, and black pepper a lot, so I buy these seasonings in bulk. I also know I use rosemary, thyme, and basil a lot, so I grow them in my garden b/c they are easy and bountiful (and I dry the basil out at the end of one season to get me to the next, while my rosemary and thyme actually grow all 12 months for me).
However, I know I only make Mexican dishes 1-2x/month, and when I do, I make different types (enchiladas, fajitas, tacos), so I buy my Mexican-type seasonings in packaged envelopes that I can use per meal - if I bought it in bulk, it would lose flavor long before I was anywhere near finished with it. The same for my Indian dishes - I buy those flavors in premade jars of sauce b/c I would never get through all the different spices I'd need, and I also prefer different types of dishes (butter chicken, lamb korma, lamb jalfrezi, etc).
So, "one size fits all" doesn't usually work in many areas...it's better to know what you use, what you're willing to use (will you actually use the other 4/5ths of the hoisin jar after making a homemade teriyaki sauce - if not, maybe buy a prepackaged teriyaki), and what you won't use
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