Aldi has bronze extruded pasta like spaghetti, linguine and fettuccine for $2 a pound. That is a fraction of the normal price. They are in thicker plastic packaging. I know you hate that but it’s less likely to let pantry months in. So you don’t need to put it in another container like you do when it comes in cardboard packaging.
They have Teflon extruded pastas for a dollar a pound in cardboard. I split those into weighed out 8 ounce portions in mason jars to prevent pantry moths and 8 oz is 4 oz per person for a decent portion size in a meal. This way when it’s time to cook I just have to grab a jar and not measure anything out.
This was covered by the other comments but for the record:
Bronze cut has a lot more texture. This dramatically affects the ability of the pasta to hold sauce. If you are just cooking noodles and dumping sauce vs under cooking and finishing in a pan with pasta water then you will never see the difference.
There’s an old Olive Garden commercial that talks about how the best olive oil is golden, the best parmesan is soft, and the best pasta is yellow. Every single one of those points was wrong.
The best olive oil is green. The best parmesan is hard as rock. The best pasta is yellow with a whole lot of white flecks.
The inside of a fresh wheel of real parmigiano reggiano is pretty soft. I often have to stick mine in the fridge before grating so i don’t make a giant mess of my grater. It should only be hard near the rind or if the cheese is old and dry.
Edit: i should say i get my parm from an italian store’s authentic wheels.