My friend took a Quilting 101 class this fall and several young women signed up, then nearly went broke buying all the necessaries. At their age, I too would have been hard put to buy all the rulers, scissors, rotary cutter and mat etc. and I won't even go there on the subject of machine costs! I think by the time I totted up the cost of the Q101 course I took last year, I had spent $200, and that was using 50% off coupons at Micheal's whenever I could for notions. Fabric here is CAN$12-17 per metre. And by the end of the course I realized my gorgeous sewing machine was bad at one thing...sewing 1/4" seams. I was able to find a nice used Bernina I could afford, just for the way it pieces so nicely.
My feeling with fabric is: get what you want. You are going to put so much labour into the piece, you should not waste your time with poor quality fabric or ugly fabric.
That said, I have real sympathy for quilters on a budget because increasingly it is getting to be a really expensive hobby. When people say "Wow, what a beautiful quilt! Would you make one for me?" I wince, because they don't know even a lap quilt takes me hours and hours, and the materials are expensive. They all seem to think we get our fabrics for free! Grandma may have had a scrap bag, I do not!
I am glad I spent some time building my stash this winter as it looks like my husband's company is going down thanks to the economy. Like the lady who said build it for retirement...buy when you can, and try to choose coordinates that won't date too much.