Agree on spices, bulk and into the freezer. Cheap spices aren’t just as good, they are better.
I used to agree on flour, got good bread flour but recently husband brought me store brand unbleached white flour and it near killed my sourdough starter, so my mind is changed on that - I’d still use it for cake, but cheap flour is low protein and won’t work for everything.
Disagree on pasta too, good pasta is easier to cook, doesn’t turn to mush as easily.