heres a few resources for how to do you own alignment
Sheldon's DIY Miata Alignment Page
http://home.comcast.net/~jkrane/suspension_university/susp401.html
K-Series.com - The Honda and Acura K Motor Solution
ive done it... its not difficult and you get a far better alignment than you will at most shops (as long as you take your time and double check your accuracy)
it takes several hours the first time... but it gets easier as you go... i can do my car in a little over 2 hours
leveling the car is important to getting proper measurements
finding the centerline of the car is crucial
beyond that its simply a matter of double checking your measurements
"slip plates" help a lot and greatly reduce frustration
google "DIY alignment"
there are shit tons of how to articles out there
this is not a hack-job alignment either
this is how almost all track cars are aligned (most track cars have a rig built for them that mounts directly to the car saving them from having to find center and measure out parallel lines...
Smart Strings Four Wheel Alignment Set)
when set up properly you can get a far more accurate alignment than you ever will from some $8/hour jackass at the local tire/muffler shop with his beat the hell up non calibrated POS $$$$$$$ laser alignment rack (i use to be one of those jackasses and used one of those high dollar racks.... i still used the string box on my own car) that rack is meant to alow a low experienced, hourly paid tech to push out alignments as fast as possible with "good enough" accuracy
i always took my time doing alignments with that shitty setup and still had to redo about 20% of the cars because after the machine said they were perfect the alignment was worse than when the car showed up