You really have to balance the actual outcome against the frugal idea. Most of mine have turned out for the better. Some I decide not to repeat because the savings or final product wasn't worth the effort.
You also need to make sure your comparing things correctly. A pizza we make at home is closer to what we get at the wood fired pizza joint in town than to a cheap grocery store frozen pizza. One costs $2-4 the other costs about $8. The same goes for garden produce. I try to not grow anything I can get cheaply at the store or farmers market and save my efforts for things that we really like but cost a ton of money.
I enjoyed reading the article, and it brings up some good points.
A couple other points to consider:
- Spending less up front may cost more late (eg buying a Kia instead of a Toyota, or financing anything).
- Sometimes it's worthwhile to consider quality over quantity.
- Spending less is smart, but sometimes it's easier to just set aside a certain amount each month, eg into a savings account, and try to make the rest stretch to the end of the month.
My husband and I go through this when planning trips. He's always opting for the quick cheap weekend getaway to someplace neither of us really want to go to ---like Reno, NV and I 'm always saying let's just hold out another couple of weeks and go someplace we really want to go--like San Francisco. To me, if I'm going to leave home and be frugal I rather those dollars stretch towards somewhere I really want to be.
I pretty much agree with all of your suggestions. Something the state of CA needs to stop doing is harassing out of state people to try to get them to pay CA state taxes. I have not lived in CA for over 20 years and somehow the state of CA found me half way across the country and sent me a scary letter demanding I pay "taxes" I supposedly owe them for working in CA. I have not been there in 20 years and certainly have not done any work for anyone there. I happened to have hired a lawyer in CA to clear up an old disability case where the insurance company never paid me for a period of time a few years ago when I could not work. The only reason I hired a lawyer in CA was because they were experienced in forcing this insurance company to comply with their policies.
This lame attempt to shake down anyone for a few bucks really left a bad taste in my mouth about the state. It certainly made me wonder how much random harassment I would get if I moved back if they are this bad to non residents. How much money did they waste on this venture? They need to stop pointless wastes of money like the one I was caught up in.
Working in a cafe and department store in my youth I think are now helping the store. I learned from the get go not to:
Take out loans
Have expensive fixtures
But I did learn to be neat and tidy, have a concept, and:
Relish the small space (don't expand until you can)
Listen to what the community wants because they're going to be your clientele (which is why we have the book exchange, are serving tea, and have become the internet wifi hub on our side of the valley)
It demonstrates the power of community in such a variety of positive ways--from responding to a great opportunity, building on prior business relationships, creatively engaging new segments of the local community, and developing practical methods of increasing business income. Kudos! And please keep us posted on how things go. I'd be very interested in learning about the challenges, opportunities and successes that occur going forward.
I had a serious problem getting hold of "a human" to complain to at priceline. When I finally tracked down the number and called it, the process through their recorded messages was interminable. The last one was a speil about how there was NO WAY anyone could ever get a refund from priceline for any reason. Being unemployed, I invested the time it took to talk to a human. She proceeded to read me more disclaimer scripts. When I finally got her to put the script down, I realized she was speaking from far-away India. I wrote a long email, elaborating on my complaints, and received a series of replies, all from different outsource employees, which all "misunderstood" what I meant. Finally, I was told that my complaint was being sent for review, and I would hear back within five days. Five weeks have passed, and I never heard back from them.
California has great scenery and wonderful climate, but as a political entity, I'm not sure it can be saved. For other states that still might avoid a California-style disaster, here's a thought:
Limit tax methods to exactly one. Make it one that everyone is obviously subject to, if not directly, then in a clear way. Examples would be sales taxes, value-added taxes or property taxes.
Granted, this will impact people who most of us would agree should not pay taxes, but no system is perfect.
The big advantage, though, is that this defeats the "divide and conquer" method that politicians use to jack up taxes by convincing most voters they will somehow be exempted. Aside from a few saints, all of us would love to have people we don't like, or people we don't approve of, pay taxes for services that benefit us. That old dictator wanna-be Huey Long put it well. "Don't tax me, don't tax thee, tax that feller behind the tree." The fact that this will lead to unsustainable spending which will sooner or later cause California-style problems is usually only recognized by Ph.D.s in Economics and others no one listens to.
It is only when we know that we (not someone else) will have to pay the bill for anything we want that there is any chance of spending discipline. Even that is sometimes not enough, but it's the only hope.
Once a majority of the population thinks it can get lots of government services and send the bill to a few suckers (whether they be "the rich" or smokers or business owners or hamburger eaters or whoever), the die is cast. Sooner rather than later, the system will crash. California went down this path earlier and faster than others, so I hope we'll learn from it, but I'm not holding my breath.
A lot of Lindsey's suggestions are very sensible and would make a great start, but there's absolutely no chance they could be enacted. Too bad. I was born in California and would have liked to retire to California, but that would be like buying a ticket on the Titanic after it hit the iceberg. All I can do now is hope that our current tendency to federalize every problem won't drag the rest of us down for mistakes we never made.
In a perfect world, Fred, I would do ALL these things. Sadly, I'm learning to handle just one or two for now (especially since I'm self employed.) This might make a good "fridge list" to help me remember my goals.
The purpose of any insurance is to avoid unbearable financial loss (not unbearable emotional loss), not to cover every possible expense. What will be unbearable financial loss depends on how close to the edge you are living. As "Cheap Like Me" above said, some folks do not have enough savings to cover funeral expenses or 6 months of lost wages. If you do have that much in savings, you'd be better off putting it to other uses.
BTW, friends and family *always* help out in such situations to the extent that they are able. Even my broke grad school friends chipped in to help my classmate pay funeral expenses for a loved one.
Some employers offer free or very inexpensive ($2/month) children's life insurance with a relatively small pay-out ($10,000) when the parent gets employer-sponsored life insurance. There's no reason (other than squeamishness) not to sign up for such a policy. But usually it's just a waste if it's tacked on to a private policy.
One more thing: your title is misleading. You're not debating "Getting Life Insurance for your Children". You're debating getting life insurance *on* your children. Sorry if that sounds harsh. But keep it in mind, because unlike your own life insurance (taken out on your own life), your child will not benefit from this policy. (I'm assuming term here. Whole-life is a different story, although it's not a good investment for most people.)
LOL... OK, for those of you who obviously took my post far more seriously than they need to, I'll explain myself a bit.
Commenter #1:
Have you ever broken up a fight with two toddlers? If you have, you probably know that the first things you want to say can be a little harsh. I've learned after some time of playing ref to 3 boys, that it is best to state things calmly, assess the situation, and make sure everyone is OK. This was a minor scuffle, no blood, just hurt feelings. And the best part was that my sons worked it out on their own. The money comment was something I found myself chuckling at because it sounded so strange coming out of my mouth. But thanks for offering your advice -- I love books.
Commenter #2:
I've only left an entire cart of stuff at a checkout line in my entire life. You can read about it here, (if you feel up for punishment). Otherwise, I'm largely referring to changing my mind on ONE or TWO items -- Not an entire shopping trip. I don't think that anyone is saying it is OK to dump a bunch of stuff on the hard-working cashier. But if you spot an item in the clearance bin and pick it up only because it's discounted -- then realize that you don't need it after all -- it's OK to politely mention to the cashier that you've changed your mind. (And my friends in retail would agree that they prefer this to just sticking it back on any old shelf or even changing your mind AFTER the purchase.)
Common sense may not be common, but it was assumed in writing this article. Thanks for your comments.
Linsey Knerl
P.S. The photo was taken over 2 years ago... and is not the son injured in the money scuffle. So you can rest assured that I wasn't snapping photos while I was reading a PF book and ignoring my kids. :)
I like your ideas. I'm not sure about the after-school programs and such, because I don't have experience with them here.
I love the removal of tax incentives after the first 2 kids - because California specifically is experiencing a huge population boom, even as we are running out of resources to support all these people. We shouldn't be encouraging MORE population. If you have the resources to raise more kids on your own, that's GREAT! (I'm not anti-family!) But don't expect the government to provide incentives for a population explosion we don't have the resources to support.
To expand on #6. It's beyond ridiculous to have marijuana users in jail. If not outright legalized (which I support), the harshest penalties for possession should be fines. Not jail. I would encourage fines, not jail, for ALL victimless crimes: illegal gambling, prostitution, panhandling, drunk in public, etc. We have way too many serious crime problems to be clogging up our legal system with this petty nonsense. The local jails seem to full to the brim with petty 'criminals' (many on public intox charges).
People who need unemployment or welfare benefits should be given the opportunity or 'strongly encouraged' to give something in exchange - receive and provide job training, or volunteer to complete government work that needs to be done. This could reduce the number of state employees on the payroll, because certain things could get done by unemployed volunteers.
A careless/dangerous lady driver did a 3 point turn into the front wing of my 306 with a volvo. Luckily she wasn't goin too fast so the dent aint very deep and no creases. i'm goin to try the methods with the lighter/hairdryer/heatgun & air duster and see if it works. If it does i'll say.
On a side note that lady seriously shouldn't be driving it was one of the worst attempts at a 3 point turn ive ever seen.
man this seems like "angry commenter day" on the frugal blogs! I thought the story of hitting brother in the face with money was really funny. The choices kids make sometimes are just so random- and as a parent, whoever expects to have to deal with a problem like that!? Good points about it not being too late to change your behavior or change your mind. I try and put stuff back before I get to the cashier, but if stuff isn't ringing up at the price I expected to pay for it, or if I realize that I'm about to spend more than I ought to, I have no problem apologizing to the cashier and changing my mind. The key I think is to do it politely, and acknowledge that its your fault, and maybe even offer to bring it back to the shelf or something. No one wants to deal with a jerk, of course (and you're not advocating us being jerks, of course!)
Xin wrote: Social Security is a system that is based on the credits you have already accumulated. I believe you can get social security disability benefits as long as you have several years of work based on your age and you qualify for the retirement/death benefits if you have 10 years or 40 credits of work. It doesn't matter if you are unemployed now as long as you already qualify for the benefits based on your entire work history over your lifetime.
Social Security is more than one program, and different programs have different requirements. To qualify for disability, you need to have a certain number of credits in the previous 10 years. For example, I currently do not qualify for disability insurance with SSA because I was a graduate student for 6 of the last 10 years. Even though I had income during that time, it was FICA-exempt, so I have no SSA credits from those years. So there are incentives to keep working at a job without large gaps in employment.
You're right, your cashier will be pissed. And they will remember you next time you come in. And will probably smash your bread.
Why? Because if stuff gets piled up on the end of the register, it's the CASHIER'S FAULT. If cold stuff gets ruined, it's the CASHIER'S FAULT. It's not fair, and it's not right, but a lot of times, people will get written up for it.
It's simply asshole behavior to pick up a bunch of pricey stuff you're going to end up not wanting. It's one thing if you honestly change your mind...but this sounds way too premeditated for that.
The key, and I realize is over simplified, is the State needs to stop spending money like a drunken sailor. If you look at their expenditures, they clearly do not represent what is necessary to run the state.
Pushing the pain down to the Counties and Cities is not going to help. They are hurting as much or more than the State and spreading the State pain is more than they will tolerate.
I've lived in NoCal in Lassen County and I currently live in SoCal and in both cases there is an increase feeling of entitlement and the State supports it. First things to cut are these entitlement programs so that the people who NEED the support get the support. Be it in medical, education, after school programs, or public safety.
Every expenditure needs to be looked at carefully, just like we do with our own checkbooks. The State needs to look hard at what services they must provide, and stop providing services that are not needed. Simple.
Federal, State, local governments and school boards should be held accountable for their overspending.
Write or call your representatives. Let them know.
Thank you, Jaap, for correcting such misinformation.
Americans are in love with the myth that we have the best health care system in the world. But the stats don't bear that out. For instance, our perinatal mortality rate is *much* worse than the Dutch rate. The fact that we have so many women dying in childbirth, and so many babies dying around the time of birth, in a country as rich as ours is a %&^*$%^ crime. We can do much, much better. Prenatal care is cheap and effective. We can offer it to all women.
I can only tell you the anguish of talking to the oncologist and having him tell you that before treatment for your loved one can begin, you will need to talk to the finance department, because 2 chemotherapy treatments costs $50,000 (not including hospitalization and supportive care) and they're not sure your insurance will cover it. I'm glad you were spared such stress, Jaap, and could concentrate on your health instead of your finances at such a critical time.
I think I would like to see more research behind your proposals besides looking around at a few people in your community to decide if certain programs work. Saying that a couple kids don't use the after school program appropriately does not convince me that the program should be dropped for the entire state of California.
Honestly, I am pretty sure that there is a lot more unneccessary stuff in the California budget than programs that help children. We are already drastically cutting the funding for public school - do we need to cut more programs for young kids as well? If the current programs aren't working, I'd rather find a way to make them work rather than just cut them.
A shop and an open microphone night. You are really a community builder. Good for you.
You really have to balance the actual outcome against the frugal idea. Most of mine have turned out for the better. Some I decide not to repeat because the savings or final product wasn't worth the effort.
You also need to make sure your comparing things correctly. A pizza we make at home is closer to what we get at the wood fired pizza joint in town than to a cheap grocery store frozen pizza. One costs $2-4 the other costs about $8. The same goes for garden produce. I try to not grow anything I can get cheaply at the store or farmers market and save my efforts for things that we really like but cost a ton of money.
I enjoyed reading the article, and it brings up some good points.
A couple other points to consider:
- Spending less up front may cost more late (eg buying a Kia instead of a Toyota, or financing anything).
- Sometimes it's worthwhile to consider quality over quantity.
- Spending less is smart, but sometimes it's easier to just set aside a certain amount each month, eg into a savings account, and try to make the rest stretch to the end of the month.
If we lived closer, I could supply the shop with cupcakes! Glad to hear it's going so well :-)
Yes! There's absolutely no way I'll give up ice cream to save money.
My husband and I go through this when planning trips. He's always opting for the quick cheap weekend getaway to someplace neither of us really want to go to ---like Reno, NV and I 'm always saying let's just hold out another couple of weeks and go someplace we really want to go--like San Francisco. To me, if I'm going to leave home and be frugal I rather those dollars stretch towards somewhere I really want to be.
Margaret Garcia-Couoh
I pretty much agree with all of your suggestions. Something the state of CA needs to stop doing is harassing out of state people to try to get them to pay CA state taxes. I have not lived in CA for over 20 years and somehow the state of CA found me half way across the country and sent me a scary letter demanding I pay "taxes" I supposedly owe them for working in CA. I have not been there in 20 years and certainly have not done any work for anyone there. I happened to have hired a lawyer in CA to clear up an old disability case where the insurance company never paid me for a period of time a few years ago when I could not work. The only reason I hired a lawyer in CA was because they were experienced in forcing this insurance company to comply with their policies.
This lame attempt to shake down anyone for a few bucks really left a bad taste in my mouth about the state. It certainly made me wonder how much random harassment I would get if I moved back if they are this bad to non residents. How much money did they waste on this venture? They need to stop pointless wastes of money like the one I was caught up in.
Working in a cafe and department store in my youth I think are now helping the store. I learned from the get go not to:
Take out loans
Have expensive fixtures
But I did learn to be neat and tidy, have a concept, and:
Relish the small space (don't expand until you can)
Listen to what the community wants because they're going to be your clientele (which is why we have the book exchange, are serving tea, and have become the internet wifi hub on our side of the valley)
Margaret Garcia-Couoh
It demonstrates the power of community in such a variety of positive ways--from responding to a great opportunity, building on prior business relationships, creatively engaging new segments of the local community, and developing practical methods of increasing business income. Kudos! And please keep us posted on how things go. I'd be very interested in learning about the challenges, opportunities and successes that occur going forward.
I am thinking of opening a new business too. I am just in the research stages right now and everyone thinks I am absoultely crazy!
I had a serious problem getting hold of "a human" to complain to at priceline. When I finally tracked down the number and called it, the process through their recorded messages was interminable. The last one was a speil about how there was NO WAY anyone could ever get a refund from priceline for any reason. Being unemployed, I invested the time it took to talk to a human. She proceeded to read me more disclaimer scripts. When I finally got her to put the script down, I realized she was speaking from far-away India. I wrote a long email, elaborating on my complaints, and received a series of replies, all from different outsource employees, which all "misunderstood" what I meant. Finally, I was told that my complaint was being sent for review, and I would hear back within five days. Five weeks have passed, and I never heard back from them.
way cool! thank you, thank you, thank you.
California has great scenery and wonderful climate, but as a political entity, I'm not sure it can be saved. For other states that still might avoid a California-style disaster, here's a thought:
Limit tax methods to exactly one. Make it one that everyone is obviously subject to, if not directly, then in a clear way. Examples would be sales taxes, value-added taxes or property taxes.
Granted, this will impact people who most of us would agree should not pay taxes, but no system is perfect.
The big advantage, though, is that this defeats the "divide and conquer" method that politicians use to jack up taxes by convincing most voters they will somehow be exempted. Aside from a few saints, all of us would love to have people we don't like, or people we don't approve of, pay taxes for services that benefit us. That old dictator wanna-be Huey Long put it well. "Don't tax me, don't tax thee, tax that feller behind the tree." The fact that this will lead to unsustainable spending which will sooner or later cause California-style problems is usually only recognized by Ph.D.s in Economics and others no one listens to.
It is only when we know that we (not someone else) will have to pay the bill for anything we want that there is any chance of spending discipline. Even that is sometimes not enough, but it's the only hope.
Once a majority of the population thinks it can get lots of government services and send the bill to a few suckers (whether they be "the rich" or smokers or business owners or hamburger eaters or whoever), the die is cast. Sooner rather than later, the system will crash. California went down this path earlier and faster than others, so I hope we'll learn from it, but I'm not holding my breath.
A lot of Lindsey's suggestions are very sensible and would make a great start, but there's absolutely no chance they could be enacted. Too bad. I was born in California and would have liked to retire to California, but that would be like buying a ticket on the Titanic after it hit the iceberg. All I can do now is hope that our current tendency to federalize every problem won't drag the rest of us down for mistakes we never made.
In a perfect world, Fred, I would do ALL these things. Sadly, I'm learning to handle just one or two for now (especially since I'm self employed.) This might make a good "fridge list" to help me remember my goals.
Great post. Keep it up!
Linsey Knerl
The purpose of any insurance is to avoid unbearable financial loss (not unbearable emotional loss), not to cover every possible expense. What will be unbearable financial loss depends on how close to the edge you are living. As "Cheap Like Me" above said, some folks do not have enough savings to cover funeral expenses or 6 months of lost wages. If you do have that much in savings, you'd be better off putting it to other uses.
BTW, friends and family *always* help out in such situations to the extent that they are able. Even my broke grad school friends chipped in to help my classmate pay funeral expenses for a loved one.
Some employers offer free or very inexpensive ($2/month) children's life insurance with a relatively small pay-out ($10,000) when the parent gets employer-sponsored life insurance. There's no reason (other than squeamishness) not to sign up for such a policy. But usually it's just a waste if it's tacked on to a private policy.
One more thing: your title is misleading. You're not debating "Getting Life Insurance for your Children". You're debating getting life insurance *on* your children. Sorry if that sounds harsh. But keep it in mind, because unlike your own life insurance (taken out on your own life), your child will not benefit from this policy. (I'm assuming term here. Whole-life is a different story, although it's not a good investment for most people.)
The Princess Project also includes San Diego!
LOL... OK, for those of you who obviously took my post far more seriously than they need to, I'll explain myself a bit.
Commenter #1:
Have you ever broken up a fight with two toddlers? If you have, you probably know that the first things you want to say can be a little harsh. I've learned after some time of playing ref to 3 boys, that it is best to state things calmly, assess the situation, and make sure everyone is OK. This was a minor scuffle, no blood, just hurt feelings. And the best part was that my sons worked it out on their own. The money comment was something I found myself chuckling at because it sounded so strange coming out of my mouth. But thanks for offering your advice -- I love books.
Commenter #2:
I've only left an entire cart of stuff at a checkout line in my entire life. You can read about it here, (if you feel up for punishment). Otherwise, I'm largely referring to changing my mind on ONE or TWO items -- Not an entire shopping trip. I don't think that anyone is saying it is OK to dump a bunch of stuff on the hard-working cashier. But if you spot an item in the clearance bin and pick it up only because it's discounted -- then realize that you don't need it after all -- it's OK to politely mention to the cashier that you've changed your mind. (And my friends in retail would agree that they prefer this to just sticking it back on any old shelf or even changing your mind AFTER the purchase.)
Common sense may not be common, but it was assumed in writing this article. Thanks for your comments.
Linsey Knerl
P.S. The photo was taken over 2 years ago... and is not the son injured in the money scuffle. So you can rest assured that I wasn't snapping photos while I was reading a PF book and ignoring my kids. :)
I like your ideas. I'm not sure about the after-school programs and such, because I don't have experience with them here.
I love the removal of tax incentives after the first 2 kids - because California specifically is experiencing a huge population boom, even as we are running out of resources to support all these people. We shouldn't be encouraging MORE population. If you have the resources to raise more kids on your own, that's GREAT! (I'm not anti-family!) But don't expect the government to provide incentives for a population explosion we don't have the resources to support.
To expand on #6. It's beyond ridiculous to have marijuana users in jail. If not outright legalized (which I support), the harshest penalties for possession should be fines. Not jail. I would encourage fines, not jail, for ALL victimless crimes: illegal gambling, prostitution, panhandling, drunk in public, etc. We have way too many serious crime problems to be clogging up our legal system with this petty nonsense. The local jails seem to full to the brim with petty 'criminals' (many on public intox charges).
People who need unemployment or welfare benefits should be given the opportunity or 'strongly encouraged' to give something in exchange - receive and provide job training, or volunteer to complete government work that needs to be done. This could reduce the number of state employees on the payroll, because certain things could get done by unemployed volunteers.
A careless/dangerous lady driver did a 3 point turn into the front wing of my 306 with a volvo. Luckily she wasn't goin too fast so the dent aint very deep and no creases. i'm goin to try the methods with the lighter/hairdryer/heatgun & air duster and see if it works. If it does i'll say.
On a side note that lady seriously shouldn't be driving it was one of the worst attempts at a 3 point turn ive ever seen.
man this seems like "angry commenter day" on the frugal blogs! I thought the story of hitting brother in the face with money was really funny. The choices kids make sometimes are just so random- and as a parent, whoever expects to have to deal with a problem like that!? Good points about it not being too late to change your behavior or change your mind. I try and put stuff back before I get to the cashier, but if stuff isn't ringing up at the price I expected to pay for it, or if I realize that I'm about to spend more than I ought to, I have no problem apologizing to the cashier and changing my mind. The key I think is to do it politely, and acknowledge that its your fault, and maybe even offer to bring it back to the shelf or something. No one wants to deal with a jerk, of course (and you're not advocating us being jerks, of course!)
Xin wrote:
Social Security is a system that is based on the credits you have already accumulated. I believe you can get social security disability benefits as long as you have several years of work based on your age and you qualify for the retirement/death benefits if you have 10 years or 40 credits of work. It doesn't matter if you are unemployed now as long as you already qualify for the benefits based on your entire work history over your lifetime.
Social Security is more than one program, and different programs have different requirements. To qualify for disability, you need to have a certain number of credits in the previous 10 years. For example, I currently do not qualify for disability insurance with SSA because I was a graduate student for 6 of the last 10 years. Even though I had income during that time, it was FICA-exempt, so I have no SSA credits from those years. So there are incentives to keep working at a job without large gaps in employment.
You're right, your cashier will be pissed. And they will remember you next time you come in. And will probably smash your bread.
Why? Because if stuff gets piled up on the end of the register, it's the CASHIER'S FAULT. If cold stuff gets ruined, it's the CASHIER'S FAULT. It's not fair, and it's not right, but a lot of times, people will get written up for it.
It's simply asshole behavior to pick up a bunch of pricey stuff you're going to end up not wanting. It's one thing if you honestly change your mind...but this sounds way too premeditated for that.
Practice some goddamned self-restraint.
The key, and I realize is over simplified, is the State needs to stop spending money like a drunken sailor. If you look at their expenditures, they clearly do not represent what is necessary to run the state.
Pushing the pain down to the Counties and Cities is not going to help. They are hurting as much or more than the State and spreading the State pain is more than they will tolerate.
I've lived in NoCal in Lassen County and I currently live in SoCal and in both cases there is an increase feeling of entitlement and the State supports it. First things to cut are these entitlement programs so that the people who NEED the support get the support. Be it in medical, education, after school programs, or public safety.
Every expenditure needs to be looked at carefully, just like we do with our own checkbooks. The State needs to look hard at what services they must provide, and stop providing services that are not needed. Simple.
Federal, State, local governments and school boards should be held accountable for their overspending.
Write or call your representatives. Let them know.
Thank you, Jaap, for correcting such misinformation.
Americans are in love with the myth that we have the best health care system in the world. But the stats don't bear that out. For instance, our perinatal mortality rate is *much* worse than the Dutch rate. The fact that we have so many women dying in childbirth, and so many babies dying around the time of birth, in a country as rich as ours is a %&^*$%^ crime. We can do much, much better. Prenatal care is cheap and effective. We can offer it to all women.
I can only tell you the anguish of talking to the oncologist and having him tell you that before treatment for your loved one can begin, you will need to talk to the finance department, because 2 chemotherapy treatments costs $50,000 (not including hospitalization and supportive care) and they're not sure your insurance will cover it. I'm glad you were spared such stress, Jaap, and could concentrate on your health instead of your finances at such a critical time.
I think I would like to see more research behind your proposals besides looking around at a few people in your community to decide if certain programs work. Saying that a couple kids don't use the after school program appropriately does not convince me that the program should be dropped for the entire state of California.
Honestly, I am pretty sure that there is a lot more unneccessary stuff in the California budget than programs that help children. We are already drastically cutting the funding for public school - do we need to cut more programs for young kids as well? If the current programs aren't working, I'd rather find a way to make them work rather than just cut them.