Click and Clack had another saying I try to keep in mind, "The miserly man spends the most." That's very often true with tires--they're so important to the cycling experience, and safety. And some cyclists require reliablity, like commuters.
I feel the relative pain of tire cost pretty often. After refurbishing the 1983 Trek 520 I pulled out of a dumpster, with less than $100 in salvaged parts, I gladly put well over $100 into new tires. And a year later I wore those out and had to do it again. I use Gatorskins that have a list price of about $60 each. I can often find them on sale for under $40, so I try to keep one or two in stock. My wife uses the same tire so that helps. We used cheaper tires for years, and now agree that was a false economy.