When I opend my first tranny I was scared to death and I was almost sure I never get it back together again.
4 hours and a sixpack later I had new bearings and syncro rings in my old tranny and was driving home.
I can tell you I was proud as hell.
So why let the mechanic have all the fun? Do it your self.
The bearings are around 30$ each, a small parts kit with all the gaskets and rollers and shims and stuff is around 20$ The syncronizers are between 5 and 15$.
Buy the parts, a shop or service manual, chips and a sixpack.
You can do it on a saturday afternoon if you take your time. You spend maybe 100$ (plus the sixpack) and learn while you do it.
Frank
