I never down shift to slow down, but instead leave it in whatever gear it's in while lightly braking (most of the time vs hard braking) until the RPM is around 1500 to 1200, then pop it into neutral and brake to a stop. It's just added wear on the clutch and throw-out brearing if I down shifted as much as I up shifted. I'd rather change brake pads instead of a clutch.
I've never worn out brake pads any faster on a manual vs an automatic, which really doesn't compression brake much. How I drive my manual car is probably less stress on the brake pads than on a typical automatic.