The proportions are all wrong for your examples, though. It isn't a $200 pair of sneakers or a cell phone bill. It's two cups of coffee.

Per the Christian Science Monitor (and most other sources) PBS is 0.01% (1/100th of 1%) of the federal budget. To spin the numbers:

Say I have an $80,000 salary. Now a lot goes to taxes, etc - but $8 represents the PBS %. Now will saving that $8 over the year (or reducing it to $4) help me? Well, sure. But it isn't even close to what is creating problems with my budget. The cell phone bill ($100/month) or those $200 sneakers are far more relevant.

Complaining about PBS is like saying you can keep a $400,000 mortgage and a $20K car loan because you've decided you are going to drink one less cup of coffee a year.