I forgot about the aspect of tire wear. Assumed if the current shock action was really comprimsed already the mechanic might have mentioned it.
Assumptions are always questionable..

So Hunter is right it may cost you tire wear as well. A quick test is to feel if there is already any scalloping effect on the edges of the front tires. Once a wear pattern sets in the tire will usually continue it even if the underlying situation is corrected. This is not an absolute though as many things are. Just a reasonably certainty.

Also as you mentioned and Hunter alluded to it replacement involves a financial consideration as well. Depending on time and money or situation it may always be a consideration.

For example if I lived in an area with many salvage cars to view. I would still take a walk to see if any newish struts where present on a wreck. Time and money availability plus situation of course enters into this. In my case habit I suppose.

When I was young and never really had enough money all the time to service all the various commitments of raising a family. That is without learning how to scrounge and manipulate things to fill financial gaps in. So I taught myself the methods.

There where just important things we needed that may have not been possible otherwise. What irks me today is that yesteryears habits became so entrenched. I still tend to practice them.

At the same time fully cognizant That if the other party needs the money more I will bend in their direction. So I tend to use the methologies against primarily against what I percieve as greed now.

That learning curve of so long ago is hard to even partially implant into some of my son in laws heads. So some carry abnormal for my times and in my mind debt loads. Or I source what they need.

Basically it is not how much income you have it is how you spend it or utilise it in my opinion. The world is ass backwards anyways. You really needed the money when younger.

Unfortunatly it tends to come later in life when the needs are not so great or important for the majority. Or rather from my limited experience is what most my generation experienced. Of course there are other people on site that have and do practice the same things. Even though not truly universal I have always thought they were on board on our site. Or present in a greater percentage than many other places.

I directly blame the educational system for not teaching fundemental ways to deal with the financial aspects of our lives. In my day if you did not learn them around the family kitchen table. You had to start learning from scratch. In this area things probably have not changed.