A question for you cooking experts?

The spices at the dollar store are probably not as fresh which means they are not going to be as flavorful, you can try just adding more of them. Otherwise, at the grocery store, usually in the produce section they sell baggies of generic spices that are cheaper. I buy these and they are fine. I just put them into a resealable plastic baggie, label the baggie with a sharpie as to the contents and date of purchase so you know if they get really old.