You sound like me. I bought a large black garbage bag full of "cloth scraps" at a garage sale for $2. There were 2 full size quilt tops in it and yards and yards of cotton fabric. Most pieces were 2 to 3 yards long. A few were only 1/2 a yard and some were 1 yard.
Craigslist is another good place to look. I found a lady one day that was selling all her quilting fabric for $1 a pound. It takes around 4 yard of fabric to make a pound. I spent $95 the first time and $37 the second. I've also found free fabric on there.