I have a SWCG and travel a lot. When I'm home I test my water and add acid weekly. When I travel, sometimes the pool has to go 2 weeks without any maintenance and it does fine.

Like stated before, SWCG make pool maintenance easier but there is no cost savings.

If you don't mind having to add bleach every few days but want the 'feel' of a salt water pool you can add a little salt without a SWCG system.