Ha, you guys are lucky, I live in Canada and the fabric there is $14-$22 dollars a metre, (39" to a metre) regular price.
You can get cheaper fabric that is a second run from the big fabirc companies (IE Hoffman) at "Fabricland" but the cotton itself is not as good
I have found in general that its much nicer to sew with the better quality cotton . Althoug it does depend to some extent what you are making wether you want to spend 80-120 dollars on the fabric for a quilt.