I haven't used Gatorade in years (
except maybe on the odd occasion on an organised event when it was the only thing offered).
In fact, I rarely use sports drinks at all.
For electrolytes, I use things like (but not limited to) ...
- Hammer's Electrolyte Pills
- Oriental noodles (soup)
- Salted almonds
- Potato chips
- Bananas
- Dried apricots
I get these things from my local grocery store (or other shops along the way). I can usually find at least one of those things, or something similar in a shop.
And prices vary, but bag of potato chips, for example, might be $1 ... or a little bit more, depending on size of package, location of the shop, etc.