Bread would be good for me on easier endurance. I like rice cakes because they sit in my stomach just about as well as gel (really simple to digest), so I can do a range of intensities. The issue is that they’re tough to unwrap and eat under pressure.
Time to take the next step and replace gels with date syrup and/or maple syrup. It’s over 50% cheaper.
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That’s why I said I do the Gatorade sugar mix, it’s cheaper than maple syrup; although I use it sometimes.
4 lbs granulated sugar $5.48, about 50 servings of mix for my bottles; .11c per serving.
Gatorade powder $8.98 about 31 servings per container for my bottle mix ; about .29c per serving.
1 serving of Gatorade sugar mix roughly .40c per serving. 90grams of carbs.
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I’ve also been on the sugar water/sodium citrate bandwagon for awhile and it definitely saves money. But a reusable gel bottle with a natural syrup is next level penny pinching!
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[€ == $ … unfortunately]
My bulk ordered maltodextrin/fructose comes down to ~ 0.23 Euros per 90g serving (2:1).
For the same amount of carbs I would have to buy 3.5 Powerbar Gels (4.50 Euros) or about 2 Sponser Tubes (5 Euros). For pretty much the same ingredients.
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we’ve got a nice inflation in EU but at least we will fill our hungry stomatch with von der leyen words hehe
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That shopper club savings really helps thou
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Wow.
I’m amazed folk are still buying gels!
Possibly, the most expensive sugar by weight on the market. There’s a ton of great info on this very forum on how to fuel rides without buying the marketing BS of sports nutrition companies.
Basically, buy bag of sugar, (yes plain old sugar) put in water, add flavor etc
Someone did the math and the cost difference per year is nuts, it’s a set of very nice carbon wheels or a short holiday…
During training I just eat sweets (jelly babies etc.) and chocolate bars (in winter). Just water in the bottles. Nicer than sugar water and works fine.
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Foods expensive, but you buy a bike, loose weight so buy new clothes, then upgrade yr bike, new cycle kit cause yr even skinnier. Then n+1 kicks in, 1 bike is now 4. Its cheap, Yeah right 
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Vegan diet saves quite a lot as veg and beans etc are FAR cheaper than meat, dairy and eggs. We also grow a LOT of food ourselves, and while we still buy a lot, it makes quite a difference when the bulk of veg is home grown and ALL the expensive fruit - loads of types of berries, currants, plums, damsons, apples etc are all free-ish 
Bulk and cheap sourced maltex and occasional protein powder also helps. If I could stop the snacks we’d also save more and of course occasional beer and wine.
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Eating well is expensive. Eating badly is more expensive in the long run. (Stolen from a recent pod).
I spend a sizable amount of money on Costco maple syrup…it’s about $12/qt so waaaay cheaper than gels 
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^^ THIS^^ bought four jugs yesterday. thinking I should have grabbed a few more 
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Come cry to me about the grocery bill when you have 5 teenagers living in your house.
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Heck yeah! You can also buy maltodextrin in bulk from home-brewing supply stores for dirt cheap. Two cups maltodextrin, 1 cup pure maple syrup, 1/2 tsp of salt, 1 large banana, and 8oz of strong hot coffee go into the blender and then put into reusable gel flasks. Saves a huge a amount of money, tastes better, and no more jersey pockets full of sticky trash.
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Ha you win - 5 dammmmmnnnn
Might just buy a cow at that point - so much milk (assuming they drink milk like teenage boys)
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Do you keep the spare stuff in the fridge? Or freezer?
I tried doing maple syrup based homemade gel once and couldn’t get the texture right.
I had to ask my wife what our grocery expenses looked like. We are a family of 4 with 1-pet
I have a child who has a anaphylactic dairy allergy, so we cant really purchase anything with any type of whey/casein/dairy in them. This means special butter, almond milks, dairy free cheeses/yogurts etc etc. We have a very expensive weekly bill, with the current rate of inflation we are average $350 a week just in grocery’s. We also pay Chicago pricing on food although we dont live in the city. My oldest child has the allergy, my youngest gets to benefit from the allergy and eat what he eats. My wife said last year she recalls it being more like $275-$300/week.
So we do a lot of rice, cereal, tofu, beans veggies, chicken, fruit and tons of Dairy alternative milk and yogurts. The children both being under 3, they like to snack a lot and options are limited to quick snacks such as larabars or crazy expensive organic allergen friendly snacks (chips crackers etc). You know its expensive when the only box of instant Mac & Cheese your boy can eat is $4 haha.
We the parents eat out maybe 6 times a month (kids are on their specific diet). I would say that we are probably $1600-$1700 monthly on eating food, my nutrition on the bike is homeade mix only or just water. I would say I am about $20-$30/month on nutrition for working out.
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I sort of giggle when i think about it… how much of the groceries go into my stomach vs how much goes to my wife and kids…