Fly tying materials can be expensive, we all know this. If you want to offset the cost a bit, scrounge up material to re-appropriate at craft stores. Oftentimes the color options are limited and the materials aren't quite as ideal as those designed specifically for tying flies, but in many cases you can find something suitable or even ideal for a few uses for much cheaper than "the real thing". And sometimes you can get exactly the same product marketed in different different packaging for less than half the price. Around the holidays the craft stores and sometimes even Walmart or Target will have silver and/or gold tinsel that is really just the same thing as Flashabou. Michael's and Hobby Lobby also have products that serve perfectly as flash for big esox or saltwater flies. I was grabbing loads of this sort of stuff around the Holidays, some of it at prices under a dollar and most of it under $3.00.
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More recently, I managed to find this funky yarn that essentially looks like polar chenille at a Michael's Cheyenne and I stopped at . It's called Scrubby Sparkle and distributed by Red Heart. The core is a bit more course and unruly than chenilles designed for fly tying, but I've already tied flies with this stuff and it makes an excellent under-body for Gurglers and other foam-backed topwater flies. It would also be a good filler material in large streamers. It comes in a decent color variety and at four buck for 174 yards, it's a steal and will allow you to save the polar chenille and other more expensive but specialized material where it really counts.
From material to build dubbing brushes with, to flash, to foam, there's a lot of stuff at craft stores that is more than serviceable if you want to save a few bucks. It's unfortunate that merely marketing something to fly fishers makes it more expensive, it would be nice to see this go away overtime.This isn't just a sport for the upper classes, and it doesn't need to and shouldn't have an expensive barrier to entry. I definitely recommend a trip to the old craft store every now and then just to see what you can find.
Props for getting fly tying materials for discount prices. My wife a couple of years ago did some Christmas decorating with some colorful synthetic material. Turned out it was crystal flash which I gathered up in a baggie after the holidays were over. I still have a ton of it, probably a life time's worth.
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