I remember back about 15 years ago, a friend of mine at the time replaced my brake pads. He worked for Monroe muffler or something, but did stuff on the side for friends. He showed me all you have to do and I was shocked. It was litterally just a bracket you had to take off, put the new pad on and replace the bracket. My car didn't have anti lock brakes, so I'm sure it's different now, but I couldn't believe how simple it was vs how much a mechanic would've charged me. Plus with YouTube, you can basically do anything yourself nowadays if you really want