I’m a little bit hesitant to share about our homeschooling budget because…oh, I don’t know…I just am. I want to discuss it…I just think it can be a bit of a touchy subject. It’s a good thing all of you are so nice.
There are different ways of thinking about how much money families should spend on their homeschooling materials.
Some people look at it like: “It’s my child’s education. I’m not going to skimp one bit and I’ll spend as much as I can to make sure my child gets the best education possible.”
Then there’s the flip side: “I can teach my child using everyday things around the house and a pencil and a notebook and the Bible. That’s all I need.”
I agree with both ideas to a certain degree. I think that it is very important to invest in the education of our children. And I also think that our children can learn a great deal by just living and experiencing life with their families…without spending a dime.
I used to skimp more than I do now when Asa and Justus were in the earlier grades. That worked fine because at that point it was really just about teaching them how to read and a few other basics. I tried to just get as many of the Sonlight recommended books at the library as I could, while spending just a little bit on their math books and a few other things.
As my kids get older (and as I’m schooling more of them) I’ve found that it’s harder and harder to get to the library to get all the books they need to read so that we can cover everything I want to cover in the school year. Having the books at our house on our shelves has been so helpful.
So while I’ve struggled with the fact that I could save quite a bit of money by going to the library everytime one of the kids finished one of the books on their list…I’ve just been unable (or yes, possibly unwilling) to make it happen. I LOVE having all the books we’ll need right on the shelf ready to grab at a moment’s notice.
And these books that Sonlight recommends? They are worth paying money for. They are worth reading over and over. They are really great books. (Sonlight is not paying me to brag on them, by the way.)
Having said all of that…I will tell you that our annual homeschool budget is $450. Total. For all the boys. For the year. That amount includes field trips and school supplies from Walmart. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like it’s enough, but that’s all there is. Some of you may see that number and be shocked that I spend that little. Some of you may be shocked that I spend that much.
I’m able to keep it at that number by doing several things. First, I combine curriculums as I mentioned in this post. I don’t buy a separate curriculum for each child.
Second, I reuse many “consumable books”. There are a few exceptions, but many of the History and Science books I ordered for Asa when he was younger, I am able to re-use with all of the boys now. If there was question-and-answer stuff in those books, we did them orally. (He got plenty of writing practice elsewhere.)
Third, once I buy a book for Asa, it is passed down and used for the other boys when they’re ready. I don’t have to buy lots of books for each boy each year.
Fourth, I look for some things on ebay. I got a pretty nice deal on ebay for a Teaching Textbook 7 for Asa this year.
Also, this year I saved up all my Swagbucks…redeemed them for Amazon cards…and ordered a whole bunch of readers for the boys. For free. If you haven’t signed up to earn Swagbucks while you’re doing online searches…you should. Their program helped us get many of the books we needed this year. They were truly a blessing. I can’t tell you how thankful I am for Swagbucks.
So there you have it. If you homeschool and care to share a bit about how you budget for it, I’d love to hear!
Mrs. S says
We home school using a public charter. So we get most of our school supplies and some of our curriculum for free, which is so nice! But, obvisiouly, they don’t purchase any Christian based materials we like, so that is where we need a budget…and so far (this is only our second year home schooling) we don’t have one! YIKES! We budget EVERYTHING so I feel a bit “off” not having one for this. I would like one to purchase more Christian read a-louds for our circle time.
Danielle says
Walmart isn’t always the cheapest for school supplies. Personally, I can’t stand the place! They’ve ripped off several of my friends, and I refuse to shop at that store, no matter what the price.
My kids go to a private christian school, so our budget is for uniforms, and school supplies that the school sets.
Sheila says
I don’t homeschool (husband not supportive of the idea AT ALL), but tuition for our two kids this year (1 middle school, 1 elementary) will be $990/month, so $450 sounds really, really good. :) I suspect that I spend $450 on fundraisers and all the ‘extra’s that come up during the school year. Great job!
Monica says
We homeschool as well. I have a 11 yr. old ds, 8 yr. old dd, 3 yr. old ds. I was wondering if ya do any extra curricular activities like scouts, music classes, coops, etc. That is the hardest part for me each year. I would love to do it all. Blessings to you and have a great school year!
Monica
Jen says
I tried getting my Sonlight books from the library, but like you, finding them not available from the library (and often having to drive to a homeschool bookstore 45 minutes away to get them) I decided to buy them. I shop around between several bookstores to get the best deal.
I also have several homeschool friends and they have let me borrow curriculums they are not using. I started out using Abeka from my friend, and as I figure out what works for my kids I have shifted to other curriculums.
Noel says
we have a similar budget, this next year though it will have to include an external hard drive for the computer. I’ve discovered Switched on Schoolhouse is reusable for each child and doesn’t need teacher’s manuals, so I”m looking into using that more and more. Hope you have a great school year – we start in one week!
Jen B says
Well, we went to a homeschool convention this year and I went to a curriculum fair also. So, my hubby wants to do that every year. So, he figures that into our school budget. We are using My Father’s world, so most of the books/readers come from the library, and that keeps the cost down a bit. But then our final cost for the year is about $1000. Yikes, I know. But if we weren’t HSing, they’d be back in private school for about $6000/year for both of them. So $1000 isn’t too bad in comparison. :)We’ve been blessed to be able to spend that much. If we weren’t counting the fair and convention it would be about $500. So if you look at it that way, we’re doing pretty good. :)
Marla says
We use Sonlight also, although I do buy the entire Core for each kid. Right now there is only 2 of them, but I’m not sure what I will do next year when there is 3. We have a really high budget compared to most I guess. So far this year I think I have spent around $1400. But, I also sold last years books for a profit of about $600. So I guess we are at an oop total of around $800. We don’t really set a specific budget. Usually when it comes time for books my husband just gives me what money he can and then I wait until the previous years stuff sells to buy whatever else I need. Although, next year will be a whole new ballgame with another child added, so I think it’s time to start figuring out a budget and how to incorporate another kid into the mix.
How do you work your kids school days? Do you spend a lot of time personally working with them? I’d be interested to hear more about how you work all of that. We really love Sonlight too. I want to be able to use them next year, but I wont be able to do 3 completely different cores. Any details you want to share about your day and system would be greatly appreciated.
Beth says
Thank you SO much for this post! We will “formally” start home schooling our 4.5 year old next year and I have been going back and forth about the curriculum. Your post really put things into perspective for me!
I love how in the beginning you got a lot of the Sonlight recommendations from the library and then started to build your own library as the years went on. I think this is what we are going to do as well. I LOVE Sonlight but am hesitant to spend that kind of money for Kindergarten.
I think that the amount of money that people spend on their children’s curriculum or education is a personal decision. Every family has different circumstances and beliefs. Thank you for sharing your personal decisions about your children’s curriculum….it was helpful!
Shannon says
Thanks for sharing!! I know this a touchy issue. I am just beginning my journey. Last year I bought a Unused set for Pre-K from someone for $50 (resold Teacher’s portion this year on eBay for $25) and for my 2nd grader I ordered A Beka second hand on eBay (except consumable workbooks that I ordered new)… anyway, 2nd grade cost me about half the A Beka cost. I buy whatever I can secondhand through eBay, Amazon, etc.. This year I have been blessed to get most of my A Beka FREE (sorry… not bragging… quite embarassed, but thrilled at the same time). I think it is a great thing IF you have some people you can swap with. I only had to order some consumable workbooks and so I am feeling the freedom to build my children’s book library (mostly through thrift stores, eBay, etc.).
If I were choosing new curriculum I would probably go with My Father’s World and highly recommend listening to David Hazell’s workshop tapings available on their website. Cheap, too. I went to 3 of his workshops at conference…. Super, especially for those with multiple children. I also like what I hear about Sonlight, but have not really looked at it, yet.
Shannon says
Thanks for sharing!! I know this a touchy issue. I am just beginning my journey. Last year I bought a Unused set for Pre-K from someone for $50 (resold Teacher’s portion this year on eBay for $25) and for my 2nd grader I ordered A Beka second hand on eBay (except consumable workbooks that I ordered new)… anyway, 2nd grade cost me about half the A Beka cost. I buy whatever I can secondhand through eBay, Amazon, etc.. This year I have been blessed to get most of my A Beka FREE (sorry… not bragging… quite embarassed, but thrilled at the same time). I think it is a great thing IF you have some people you can swap with. I only had to order some consumable workbooks and so I am feeling the freedom to build my children’s book library (mostly through thrift stores, eBay, etc.).
If I were choosing new curriculum I would probably go with My Father’s World and highly recommend listening to David Hazell’s workshop tapings available on their website. Cheap, too. I went to 3 of his workshops at conference…. Super, especially for those with multiple children. I also like what I hear about Sonlight, but have not really looked at it, yet.
Josette says
I have heard many people earning, “swagbucks”. How exactly does it work.
For you Laura, does it take alot of work?
I am interested but don’t want to be committed.
By the way 450 is wonderful for all the boys!
Laura says
It doesn’t take any work once you get set up. Go to my site and click on the swagbuck button at the bottom of my right side bar. Set up an account (which is as easy as filling in some quick information). You will probably get 3 swagbucks for just signing up, which is kind of fun.
Then, on the Swagbucks site across the top, click on Toolbars. I downloaded the Swagbucks Internet Explorer Toolbar. This put a Swagbuck search tool across the top of my computer.
That’s really all there is to it. Now, every time I want to do a search for something…instead of using Google, I use the Swagbucks search bar. I don’t have to do any extra work to earn Swagbucks…I just use it to do searches online like I would be doing anyway.
There’s also a referral program which you can use to earn even more swagbucks if you have others sign up under you. That’s pretty nice.
You don’t earn a swagbuck everytime you do a search. It’s kind of random…and depending on how many searches you do each day…you can earn 2-3 swagbucks each day. If you have others signed up under you, you can earn a few more!
It’s a simple way to earn free stuff. I always redeem mine for Amazon cards since that seems to be the easiest for me!!
Hope that helps explain it!!
Josette says
By the way I did the relish recipe (it’s on my blog) it came out so nice!!
I am still learning how to do links, so I just posted your entire address to give credit. I am soooo learning how to blog still.
Katherine says
Thanks for this post. We’re several years from homeschooling (just about to have our first child) but I’m planning to stay home after she is born so we’re working through the transition to a 1-income household. The public schools are not good where we live so unless they improve or private eduction tuition goes down, homeschooling will be something we will prayerfully consider doing. And being that I love to research, I went to the Sonlight website last week and stressed out over the cost. So I thank you for this post because it gives me perspective. :-)
Kika says
If I don’t count music lessons or sports I easily spend $1000/CND year but this still includes so many craft supplies, etc., that I’d buy even if my kids were not homeschooled. I have saved money having tons of books passed down from my homeschooling parents and like to find classics at garage sales. We certainly use the library tons but if we borrow a book and my kids love it, I’ll buy it for our shelves. I do find I am needing to buy less b/c I am reusing materials for kids no#2 and #3 so I have more flexiblity now to spend on fun supplies.
Kacie says
Sounds plenty reasonable to me! It appears that you have a good mix of quality materials plus time for good ol’ fashioned pens, paper and Bibles.
Amy says
We use Tapestry of Grace and then I piece the rest together. I too try to reuse “consumable” books to save money. We order all of our reading books instead of the library. 1) they always have what we need 2)With 7 children 9 and under and another one due in 8 weeks, it saves time by having them here. My boys love to read so they tend to reread these books many times. All that to say, we probably spend around $1000 or a little less each year on school stuff.
Serenity says
Thank you so much for the info! You have motivated me to cut my homeschool budget. In the past three years I have spent about $2000 on school for two school age children. I do save ALL of my stuff since we have two more not in school yet.
My first year of homeschooling I bought Sonlight’s Core K. My very generous parents paid 1/2 so I only paid $400. I was telling my friend, Mary, who teaches in the public school, about my parents generousity. Mary became VERY flustered and said “you mean you have to pay for your own curriculum?!?” I said “of course, who do you think should pay for it?”. Mary said “the school should, I can’t believe they don’t pay you to homeschool!”.
Thinking of Mary’s reaction makes me chuckle every time! I guess I’ll get over paying for my curriculum :)
Step says
We don’t homeschool, but your budget sounds good to me. Our 3 kids go to public school (which is supposed to be “free”) and then we afterschool during vacations and summer. One year I kept a running tab of every school expense from September – June and we spent well more than $450 for our children. School supplies, fundraisers, fieldtrips, money for class parties, school pictures, and the list goes on. I really look for good deals on the supplies and then decide on an annual budget for the rest of the things and stick with it.
Kika says
I am curious, do homeschoolers in the USA receive any funding from the school board they register with? In Canada we do.
Elizabeth says
Not that I know of. We sure don’t in West Virginia.
Laura says
Oh man…I WISH. How nice that you receive funding in Canada. That’s great!
Amanda says
We do? What province do you live in?
Kika says
I live in Alberta. I did learn, though, that each province is very different as a friend from here moved to Toronto and received no funding. I had not realized all these years how drastically different one province could be regarding homeschooling laws – not just in terms of financial support.
Amanda says
Hey well thanks for the quick reply, you have a good thing going there in the West Praise the Lord! I does not seem to extend to Ontario though, we can hardly make ends meet here it is so expensive to live and that is on almost a 6 figure salary! I am not complaining though in Quebec they are having big issues with homeschool laws I am sure they would appreciate everyones prayers there and support I wont wine over a little funding here!
Miracle Quelle says
Mikaela’s just in first grade this year, so it’s all pretty new to me, but my favorite resource is paperbackswap.com. I look way ahead on our curriculum, so if a book is not available right away, I can put it on my wish list and wait for it to come up. I get books really cheap at the thrift store or from freecycle that I then post on paperbackswap to switch for the ones I want. All you have to pay is postage. There are also multiple free curriculums online. My two favorite right now are amblesideonline.org and simplycharlottemason.com. At Ambleside, most of the books are public domain, and can be read for free on the computer.
KS Mom says
This summer our Half-Price Bookstore ran a summer reading club, and each of our three children earned a $3 certificate each week. There was a hidden blessing: the store keeps an entire cart of books that are “clearanced” for $1 each, and the children could each choose three books. We found SO many classics this way: Trumpet of the Swan, Caddie Woodlawn, etc. We built a great “living books collection” of about 30 titles for FREE as this promotion can be redeemed EVERY week for the eight weeks of “summer break!” Yea!
Jessica says
Kiki,
Here is NE where we live do not @ all. We pay them taxes too even though our children do not attend.
Callie says
We too use Sonlight! Love it! This will be our second year. I have four boys, but right now only two are school age. My oldest did two years in public school before we decided to home school. The last two summers we bought a full curriculum from Sonlight. The boys share a core, but do separate Math and LA. We spent right at a $1000 each time. Yes, that is a lot of money.But it is way less than a private school for two kids, way less than moving neighborhoods for a “better” school. It gives me peace of mind knowing I have everything on the schedule, and last year’s core one is put away for use with my two little ones.
Tip–I put the math worksheets in clear sheet protectors. They use Vis-x markers making them reusable. Not only good for the next kid, but easy to start over when someone gets ahead of them self and thinks they know how to do it without instruction! (sheet protectors were on sale this week at Wag B2G1=30 for.99
BTW–I do think it is great, if you choose do it for less. Way to go Laura!
cordately says
Laura,
Have you heard of Paperbackswap.com? I don’t know if they would have your specific curriculum books, but it would be a great place to pick up classic novels for your older boys.
You earn credits by posting books you don’t want and mail them when requested by other members. You can then use your credit to request any book on the site.
I joined to help get rid of excess books that were overcrowding my shelves. Now I have enough credits that anytime someone recommends a book to me, I just go and request it or put it on my wishlist.
You might even get lucky and find the curriculum books.
Kristen says
This is our second year of HS and I only spent $250-$275! But that’s just for 1st and K. I wish I could purchase all the books but thankfully my library system has almost all that I need. If I didn’t HS my kids would go to a private Christian Day School but just for two (of four kids) it would be $1000 or more. My husband lost his job in June and is still looking but we are continuing with school as planned. However, I plan on trying to do something to bring in extra income.
The kids and I LOVE homeschooling and thankfully my husband is for it. He even taught them one day last week!
Alicia says
Our budget in the past has been around $400-500, depending on how many kids are schooling. This year I think we spent close to $1000 for 4 kids plus one preschooler(he got all the leftovers though!). I did sell some books for a couple of hundred dollars as well. But I live in a small town that is not close to a larger city. Our library selection is extremely limited. So that causes us to have to buy a lot of our books. I do try to shop at the Good will store or garage sales. I beg or borrow some books! We of course pass down books that the older children have used. But my 2nd child has a totally different style of learning than my oldest. So that has thrown a kink in the hand me down situation somewhat. The next year I will be putting together my own curriculum. I also plan to do more hands on things and use what I have. So I hope to really cut that budget in half.