I bought some .223 for about 22 cents a round the other day. Went to an old, musty pawn shop downtown....had to clean the dust off of the packages...but hey, not bad for a few hundred rounds of white box. So...cheap ammo may still be in your area...you've just got to hit somewhere off the beaten path.
Also...Wal Mart has been having a manager special on 200 round bulk packs of Federal .223 The going price is around $57 a box, but they did have it discounted to $46....bought all they had at $46.