Week-end Plans Nope just Changing a Light Bulb!

Can anyone explain to me? How you can go from changing a light bulb in the hallway to one trip to WalMart then three trips to OSH and three returns later. My final trip was to Home Depot. Where I eventually ended up spending another hundred dollars on new fixtures. This was to replace the fixtures that we put in last year from Walmart. This some what explains why the fixtures were on sale for $8 last year and now this year they do not carry that type of light fixture. I just wanted light in the hallway to see in my pantry. Is that too much to ask?