I'm a scientist. Beans are a fruit, of the musical variety.

I miss fruit.

Solid advice, I highly endorse it.

Be careful with cheap spices. If it's from a trusted brand, sure, go for it. Whole spices tend to be more trustworthy than powders (and sometimes cheaper). But there have been some instances of heavy metal contamination of cheap powdered spices. Especially the imported powders you'll see a lot in international grocery stores. Even if it is safe, you don't know how long it's been sitting in the store or waiting in a far away warehouse.

If you see super-cheap cinnamon, it's usually Cassia cinnamon, which contains high levels of coumarin, a blood thinner. "Real" cinnamon is Ceylon. It's more expensive, but has much lower levels of coumarin, and most prefer its more delicate flavor. Afaik labels aren't required to disclose what kind of cinnamon you're buying, but the more reputable brands sell the Ceylon variety and label it as such. You can also get whole cinnamon, and the two varieties are easy to tell apart.

I like getting spices from stores with a bulk spices section. e.g., if you need a tbsp of cinnamon, or a single star anise, a very specific amount of something you'll only use once, etc.. you put only what you need in a little container and purchase it by weight. It will be super cheap compared to a whole prepackaged container and you'll always have a fresh product with no waste. You can even bring/reuse your own containers! A lot of local food co-ops have a bulk area with spices. "Frontier Co-op" is a popular vendor for bulk sets, and their stuff is vetted and super high quality. Best of both worlds IMO.

I've been like this for months. I'm miserable. I'm a vegetarian because I hate animals. I have high blood pressure so I cut out animal fat and booze.

not really. Especially if you have access to vegan chick'n nuggies and corn dogs and junk.