Ever seen the job boards on Craiglist? They're free, and they really suck. The signal to noise ratio on both sides becomes horrendous.
Bigger cities are even more expensive, ie San Fran, NYC. I'll agree that the job postings on craigslist don't look spectacular, but with a few friends who just found jobs and other who are currently jobless, their go to job site is Craigslist. Sure they fill out profiles on Monster and Career Builder, but then they just sit back and wait to be contacted by recruiters.