No idea where you live. You could start with the Yellow Pages, do a Google search for flooring stores in your area. Do any advertise on local TV? Try visiting some of them and tell them your situation.

I work for Mohawk and a decent reasonably price carpet to ask for is Power Play. It is a Smartstrand carpet and is a good value. If you don't know about Smartstrand go to Mohawkflooring.com or check out Smartstrand posts on my blog. Power Play would be one of many options from Mohawk and there are a variety of options from other carpet mills.

Pad is sold mostly by density. When you say cheap padding, what comes to mind is less than six pound density. Your options are a 3.5-4 pound and a 5.0-5.5 pound density. Non-cheap padding would be a 6 pound or greater. See what your local retailer keeps in stock and look at the total price difference between the different qualities and make your buying decision (for more info on carpet cushion, click here). If you are replacing carpet for just a few rooms, the difference won't be that great, so consider going with the six pound.

Good luck!

find a 'stocking' carpet store. One that buys rem packages and rolls of carpeting. Its in stock and ready to install. Those kind of places tend to have the best prices. Its a generalization but generally these are good places to find a 'deal'.

I just found this forum, and being a flooring contractor, thought I'd join up and contribute as well as learn from some of the other flooring people here. I agree with the last post-stocking dealers pay the lowest price for rolls of materila and have the ability to sell for less than even home centers if they so choose.