Expensive car repair AVERTED!

Today I'm grateful that what I thought was wrong with my car was not.  This past week my car died several times, for no reason, and I had to get it jumped.  Then it got to the point that it was dying every time I shut it off, so I knew I had to get something replaced or fixed.  I asked a couple people about it and they said it was probably the battery or the alternator.  The battery in my car had not been replaced the entire time I've owned it (over four years), so I figured that needed changing, but some people also made me think that it was probably the alternator.  And those things are expensive.  At least expensive for my broke ass.  So I got a price on the alternator, and I was calling around for quotes and everything, resigned to the fact that I'd have to spend a few hundred to get my car going again.  But then a guy at my work convinced me to actually get the alternator tested, and it's fine!  The starter's fine, too.  All I had to do was get my battery replaced. :)  Stupid mechanic that told me there was something wrong with the alternator. Anyway, it pretty much made my day to just buy a battery and have my car working again within fifteen minutes.