I drove the same car from age 18-29. It was 26 years-old when I sold it. Never once took it to a mechanic.
Most routine services at a mechanic are just basic oil change, checking fluids, checking tyre pressure, checking brakes. The mechanics my wife takes her car to are so lazy, they didn't bother to check her drum brakes (despite ticking it off. drum brakes are more annoying to check than disc brakes). They were nearly metal-on-metal and I just changed them myself.
You can absolutely service your car yourself. And because it's so much cheaper, you can buy the best brakes (most important), the best tyres (just as important), the best parts.
There's plenty of guides online that will tell you what to check. Keep a log book, and you can start replacing things on schedule (eg changing the belt every 50,000km) before they break.
You can still take it to a mechanic for non-trivial stuff. But once you start doing minor things, you end up doing it all :)