why does everything cost more than I expect?

[dragonyphoenix]

I had my car at the shop today. I thought it was going to be about $200 and it turned out to be over $400. The quoted price was just for the tires, which makes sense in retrospect since that's what we'd been discussing, but I had thought it included the alignment. In related news, my leaky sink and clogged toilet required a new toilet and a new garbage disposal; MUCH more expensive than I'd assumed. This is getting old fast!