The prices here are getting higher, also. There is the GSQA quilt show this weekend in Slidell, LA. There are going to be 11 vendors there. Two of which are the LQS that I regularly go to. I'm interested to see if the prices are the same or if they have raised them for the show.
I recently went to Joann's in Metairie (which is about 45 minutes awaay). I have heard a lot of quilters talk about it. I will never go back to that one again. One of my LQS calls it "The Dirty Joann's". It was horrible. There is another one that they recommended. I hope it is better, but now I have to get the courage to go.
To answer your question, you are not cheap. You are just trying to be thrifty, we all are.