Then you should probably stick to the cheapest liquid carbs, e.g. sugar water.
Iām not too lazy to eat dates/figs/Hariboā¦ Again, I am asking if anyone knows of any other cheap nonperishable foods you can just eat.
Whats the point if you arenāt doing 5 hour trainer rides (and even then you donāt need solids) and donāt need them on outdoor rides because of āthe prevalence vending machinesā?
Make a stack of jam sandwiches, stick them onto your bar ends, and be done with it. Cheap AF, too.
Iāve taken peanut butter sandwiches on 4-5 hour gravel rides. They worked pretty great as fuel. A little bit of fat and protein in the mix seemed to work well for good all day energy.
Legend Eddy B used to prescribe cheese & jam sandwiches. Same effect.
Please explain?
Take two pieces of bread and jam them together 
Iām at a loss as to what youāre actually looking for. You ask for the cheapest fuel but then donāt want the cheapest powder or solid. Are you specifically asking āwhatās the best snack in a vending machineā?
I think heās confused by the āstick them onto your bar ends.ā
must have di2 and the bar ends are unavailable? 
Not sure if itās the cheapest per g of carbs but I love Soreen malt loaf (https://www.soreen.com/products/original-malt-loaf/). Do you guys even have it in the US? It hits the spot, tastes nice, costs about Ā£1 per loaf so pretty cheap. Personally I donāt really care if itās not the most efficient way to fuel, it does the job. On 90 min SS rides Iāll happily chew through half to 2/3 of a loaf.
I love malt loaf as well - but to eat that much on a 90min ride must mean youāre eating almost constantly ā¦ it takes me about 5 mins to chew down a single slice 
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Back in the 90s as a junior we bought cheap no name cola, left it out overnight to go flat, and used it slightly watered down with a half pinch of salt (sodium) and half a pick of lo salt (potassium). Cheap and it worked. On long rides we took a ham or a jam sandwich as well. 
The Soreen banana bars are great ride food too. Very cheap, very convenient and less farty than the real stuff. Not as tasty, but I can still happily munch down half a dozen in a long ride. I keep some next to me on the trainer too for long workouts.
If you must have solid food Iād reckon white bread sandwiches with a spread of choice (vegemite for me) or some home brand fruit cake, sliced with a bit of butter to make it stick together/easier to swallow.
But on the trainer I usually eat jelly snakes (the big ones - killer pythons) and drink malto in water.
iām not sure i entirely understand the point of this thread, unless itās just an academic exercise. Does it really matter if itās THE cheapest as long as itās . . . cheap enough?
if youāre talking about eating such vast quantities that the amrginal differences in cheapness start to be meaningful, i might suggest you give yourself a break and just pick the thing that you like the best (or a variety of things that you like). You can more than make up the small differences through other lifestyle choices.
āCheapestā as in āmany items that are very cheapā not āthe one item that is literally the lowest priceā.
It turns out the energy cookies from the grocery store might have been cheaper gram per gram than bulk figs and datesā¦
they also might be easier to digest also when youāre getting up to challenging quantities.
like imagine just slamming a dirty kanzaās worth of dried fruit, definitely seems uhhh āriskyā
Make up a batch of flapjacks. It takes half an hour start to finish. Super Cheap, super tasty.