Sounds like you live close to the edge.
I could probably pinch off the lines to the brakes on three of my wheels and get by pretty good with just the one brake, because I'm on them so lightly and sparingly. My '94 F150 is still wearing the factory pads and shoes and drums and rotors; I've had to replace some of the hard brake lines due to road salt rust though.
I just replaced the pads and shoes for the first time on the '92 Tempo I've had 12 years not because they were worn out, but because the linings were delaminating from the backings!
If they would have been rivted + bonded construction instead of just bonded I probably wouldn't have had to replace them.