I mean, does it really save money after setup?

Man, I was totally in the fancy gear camp before too. Seeing stuff like this really makes you appreciate the basics.

Ugh, tell me about it! I got so bored following the exact rules at my local event last year that I just went for it with a peach glaze on my ribs. Sure, the sweetness was a bit much for the scorecard, but people talked about it for months after. What worked for me was keeping my base recipe solid so it still met the basics, then adding one wild twist just for fun. I even had a judge pull me aside and say he wished he could score it higher for being different. So sometimes you gotta give the crowd something to remember, even if the numbers don't fully show it. It keeps the spark alive in all this.