Where do you shop? Ethnic grocery stores often have better prices on produce and certain items than white people grocery stores, where those items are a novelty. If you don't have time to make paneer, go to an Indian store, and you'll find that it costs the same as white people cheese at a white people grocery store. Also, they have fantastic prices on spices when you want a bunch of cumin, ginger, etc.
At the Mexican grocery store, onions are 1/3 the price of what you'd buy them for at the white people grocery store across the street.