WAG, 16 ounces? 
I had a similar thing happen, when I was trying out a recipe for a traditional dinner roll from Morocco. It called for fresh thyme, but all I had in my cabinet was a jar that had expired. I made them anyway, and I gotta tell you
I like that old-thyme Moroccan roll.
Oooooh.
The equivalent of 16 lids of maryjane? Not that any cop would ever make that mistake.
I think this “spice cabinet” used to house an ironing board. I also have an upper cupboard with more spices in it. One of those very large bottles on the bottom shelf is curry powder that probably tastes like nothing and should be tossed but I still sometimes use it by the quarter cupfulls when making a big pot of a thing. I have newer, better tasting curry powder and am not opposed to making my own, which is why the bottle is so old.
Many years ago (maybe six or seven years ago) I purchased a bag of dried cardamom pods directly from India. They are more than half gone now and I’m really going to miss them once I finally run out. They’ve lasted so long because they are still very, VERY potent. 3 in 3 cups of rice is more than enough.
More than any human needs unless they run an Italian or Greek restaurant.
I once made the mistake of buying a 4 ounce bag of bay leaves from Penzeys. It’s like a quart of leaves. 
At least they don’t really go bad - just less flavorful, so use more to compensate.
Back when I bought the insane amount of bay leaves, it was part of an overall spice cabinet purge. Did I really need mace if I have whole nutmegs? Why did I ever buy marjoram? Even if there was a reason I bought it years ago, shouldn’t the stuff smell like something?
Just visit a local Indian grocery store. Many (though not all) of the spices are straight from India.
I’m talking volume, smart guy. It’s about a hay wagon full.
I’ve probably told this story before, but circa 1984, when I lived in Arlington, VA, a local Indian market had a sale on saffron, which was then usually something like $150/lb and they were selling 8oz for $20 (don’t hold me to the exact numbers as I no longer recall them, but you get the idea).
It was a HUGE amount of saffron and even using it often I couldn’t use it up. I kept it in the freezer for about 25-30 years, though it went through periodic periods of not being frozen when we moved and it would be in a shipment for 2-4 months at a time.
I kept thinking, as the years went by, “Surely this saffron is completely dead by now.” But I’d sniff it, and it would still be pretty good.
Finally, maybe around 2014 or so, I decided the scent was weak and I would buy new saffron. I got some from Penzey’s and compared: yes, the new saffron was more potent than the old. But the old still wasn’t that bad!
I’m not sure when I threw out the last of the ancient saffron in favor of newer, more pungent supplies, but it felt like the end of an era when I did. The unmistakable end of my younger self, I guess.
If I found myself in the position of having more saffron than I knew what to do with, in addition to weekly paella, I’d try this recipe, which takes 2 teaspoons of saffron per chicken. And I’d probably make 2 chickens to have leftovers.
We cook a lot, so we tend to rip through some spices and herbs, and use others at a more sedate pace.
We’ve figured out that a lot of them should be bought in the 1/4 cup or smaller sizes, so that they get used up at about the same pace as they go stale. Others we end up getting in larger quantities because they get used faster. It’s also somewhat seasonal- my wife does a lot of holiday baking, so sometime in September or October, we usually end up with a ridiculous amount of cinnamon, a couple of nutmegs, allspice, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, etc… and the leftovers let us coast through until the next year’s holidays.
As far as storage goes, we’ve got part of a cabinet, a drawer, and then two double-drawers filled with spices/baking ingredients. They’re all more or less organized and labeled as well.
Some end up kind of long in the tooth and get thrown out eventually- stuff that we don’t use that often like Old Bay or a lot of other spice mixtures.
Damn that’s a lot of saffron. I’d figure it’d be like eating flowers at that point.
I hate hate HATE waste! (Time, money, whatever…)
So the idea of buying a $7 jar of an herb or spice that I need 1/2 teaspoon for a recipe once makes me wiggy. But I like to cook and try different things so Star Anise it is! Fennel Seeds? Yes, please! Cardamon Pods! All-righty!
Then, our adult kids moved in for a few months. Let’s just say they have a different approach. Anything that pops into their heads, they get. So our supply of herbs and spices doubled overnight. We happen to live in the “Old Bay” region, so of course we have to have a bucket of that.
Aside from the regular useful stuff (Oregano, Basil, Bay Leaves, Chili Power, etc.) I anticipate throwing 95% of the rest of it out once it moves past the stamped-on expiration date, just 'cause. And the gods of waste will be sated once more.
Ironically, all 3 of the spices you mention should have a long shelf life. That’s why as I mentioned upthread I always buy seed spices in their whole form whenever possible and grind when needed, because they last a lot longer. It’s ground seed spices and dried herbs that have a short shelf life.
I used to live near an independent, non-chain specialty grocery store that sold bulk herbs and spices. So you could buy the minimum amount, only a dollar or two worth, of a one-time use herb and not have to worry about a lot left over to go stale. I miss that place since I moved away.
Don’t forget those bulk spices didn’t start aging the day you bought them. They started aging the day the store bought that 5 (or 15!) pound bag of oregano or whatever it was.
Dried rosemary seems to last forever.
True, but I have more faith that they can move their dried herbs faster than I can use up that $7 jar of savory or marjoram I bought to try in a random recipe 5 years ago.
You could freeze them.
In the kitchen now. Let’s count jars of herbs, spices, and blends:
- 40 in a spinner
- 16 on a wall rack
- 11 inside a cabinet drawer
- 16 in the pull-out spice cabinet
- 63 in the pantry cabinet
- 11 in a rack on the counter
- 26 in a drawer (including specialty salts)
- 4 large Ziploc bags of smaller refill spice bags (~30 total)
- 10 jars of herbs I’ve dried (+~20 mason jars of mushrooms, peppers, chard, fruits, etc. that can be ground and added to food)
Exactly. Un-ground fennel seeds last for years, as do cardamom pods and star anise.
But dried basil? If you get 9 months out of it before it starts losing its flavor I’d be shocked.