Four 'Gourmet' Foods You're Overpaying For

A jar of spaghetti sauce typically runs $2 to $6. The equivalent amount of canned tomatoes is often under $1. Make your own sauce from canned crushed tomatoes or fresh tomatoes (particularly in summer, when they're plentiful, tasty and cheap): put the tomatoes into a skillet, stir in some wine or wine vinegar, a little sugar, your favorite herbs, and whatever chopped vegetables you like, and let simmer for an hour.

If you aren't diagnosed with celiac disease or a gluten intolerance, keep in mind that gluten-free doesn't necessarily mean healthy — gluten-free bread, cookies and crackers often are packed with more refined flours, artificial ingredients, and sugar than traditional baked goods, and can cost up to twice as much.

Powdered and gourmet iced teas are really a rip-off. It's much cheaper to make your own from actual (inexpensive) tea bags and keep a jug in the fridge. Many mixes and preparations are loaded with high fructose corn syrup and other sugars, along with artificial flavors. To make 32 ounces of iced tea, it usually takes 8 bags of black tea or 10 bags of herbal, green, or white tea; if you like your tea sweet but want to keep calories down, skip the sugar and add fruit juice instead.

These “all-inclusive” food trays might seem reasonably priced ($2.50 to $4.00), but you're actually paying for the highly designed label, wrapper, and specially molded tray. They only contain a few crackers and small pieces of cheese and lunchmeat — the actual edible ingredients are worth just pennies, and are filled with salt.