It's painful, when you need just a half teaspoon of some exotic spice, to have to shell out $4, $5 or more for a container (and a tiny container at that) that holds far more than you'll use in this lifetime.

And that is why I now buy spices almost exclusively at places like Cornucopia and River Valley Market, both in Northampton, where you can purchase only the amount you need.

A prepackaged 3-ounce bottle of curry powder, for instance, is $4.49 at River Valley Market, which works out to just under $1.50 per ounce. The store's loose curry powder that you measure out out from a big jar is $1.06 an ounce.

While I was there, I did some additional comparison shopping. A 2-pound bag of organic brown rice cost $3.29 ($1.65 per pound), while bulk organic brown rice was $1.99 per pound. In this case, the packaged variety is the better buy. Packaged organic raisins were $5.69 for a 24-ounce container, or $3.80 per pound; bulk organic raisins were $3.79 a pound - a dead heat. But if you are fond of steel-cut oats, bulk buying is the way to go. A 1-pound box of McCann's steel-cut oats was $3.99; bulk steel-cut oats were on special for just 99 cents a pound (the regular price is $1.19), meaning that right now they are one-fourth of the cost of the McCann's. And to me, they taste exactly the same.

The bottom line: Bring your calculator to the market. If you do the math, you can find some big savings in the bulk aisle.