Yah, should be about $3 for a cable. I usually get the cheap ones for everything because a cable is a cable (housing is a bit different).

Before installing, I dip my fingers in some teflon grease and then run them along the cable to make sure it will stay smooth in the housing. Of course you wouldn't do this for if you decided to get a new housing and cable kit where most are greased up beforehand and designed to work together. I loathe redoing the housing on my bikes, though.