If money is tight and you're comfortable feeding Diamond, then I would just go with Costco's Kirkland or Diamond Naturals (at most petfood retailers) or Tractor Supply's 4Health (they're all essentially the same food repackaged under different labels--the differences are trivial enough to view the foods as interchangeable, I think). That's at least $10 bag cheaper than TOW, with pretty close ingredients, from the same manufacturer. There are small improvements in TOW, but not enough to justify the price difference IMHO between TOW and Diamond Naturals for a food made in the same plant with very similar ingredients. You *must* monitor recalls and internet rumblings calling for recalls, and save your bag date codes, if you feed Diamond-made products--and know their history so that you are an informed consumer. That will get you into the $30 per 40/lb bag range.
The next step up would be to Victor. It's about the same prices as TOW. It's only slightly more expensive than Diamond foods, getting into the $40-ish range. It's made in Texas in a plant with no recalls. You may have to look on their website for a local retailer or order online -- it's usually sold at small independent retailers, or feed stores.
If you can go up to about $50-ish per 30 lb. bag, you can feed Fromm's 4-Star Line (with grains). It's a significant step up, to a family-owned company that has never had a kibble recall (one small canned food recall), and that owns their own plant in Wisconsin. Many dogs do very well on it, and it's designed to rotate flavors (fish this bag, duck the next, and chicken after that, etc.). It's only sold at small independent retailers, or online (no big box stores).
If you have a local independent pet food retailer, they may carry Grandma Mae's Country Naturals. It's in the $50 range, and has a very good reputation. It's made expressly for small, independent retailers (the idea is to put the money into the quality of the ingredients, and let the stores handle the marketing, so that the customer isn't paying for splashy marketing and the price can be lower).
In L.A., you might pop in any of the Centinela Feed stores around the Southland to browse and chat. I was always very pleased with those stores, when I had them nearby.