As with most of you, Fastenal is my last choice unless I'm looking for a box of 25 - 100 of something. I still have about 40 metric cap bolts left over from a box of 50 when I worked on my brother's Scirocco! I'm thinking of drilling holes in them to lighten them up a little.... 
We're fortunate to have a couple of ACE stores nearby, along with Home Depot, Lowes and "Tri-State Fasteners" (a Dad and Son shop) that still sell ones and twos for a reasonable price.
Still, for most of us, our local sources seem to be shrinking every year and we'll soon have only on-line sources for stuff, and much of that comes from Asia. Not necessarily a bad thing, just inconvenient if you're in the middle of something and don't want to wait two days for delivery.
Instead, we're willing to drive all over the place, wasting an afternoon and end up spending 10X - 15X the part cost in gas and lost time.