I do not believe that Joann expects anyone to ever pay full price for their fabric, so it is all deliberately over-priced. I don't like this business strategy and always felt like a sucker when I absolutely had to buy something without a coupon. Unfortunately for me, Joann is only about a mile away and the closest alternative for basics is Walmart, with no other options for less than 10+ miles away.
In the Seattle area our quilt stores have been closing and we no longer have the options we once did. Most of the time regular fabric prices are $12-16/yard.
I mostly buy my fabric at the thrift stores now. That's typically about $1-2 per yard. True, I can't really pick what I want or how much I can get, but I get some really great finds and typically I leave more than I take. The Seattle area is a very wealthy area and our thrift store shopping can be sublime.
I mostly work with scrap quilts, but sometimes get enough for what I call a "planned quilt". This is my latest thrift store top, I'm calling it Seahawk Pink. The package of coordinated fabrics was $2.99. pieces were about 1.5-2.5 yards and I used about 2/3rds of it. The remainder will go to my crumb quilter. The batting I will be using is a queen+ sized batt, and I will get two tops out of it, bought at a different Goodwill for another $2.99. Backing has come out my stash, the binding is made and will be the yellow. Pattern is a "free 5 yard quilt" (google brings it up), I took the image and developed my own construction methods. No way would I pay $60 in materials nor would I give it away.