I'm sort of with jfscues. Buy a bandsaw. There are lots of vendors you can purchase the standard 1 1/2" squares from, or you can buy 3/4 boards and cut them to size. Not many are willing to cut their stock up into 1/2" squares I would think.
Someone mentioned ebay, and the pen blank stock. That is a great idea depending on how long you need the pieces to be. If you need them very long, that is a problem, but some of them might custom cut some lengths.
As for looking for exotics at good prices, I think we can probably all say that.
Kelly