How to Afford Homeschool Curriculum on a Small Budget

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It’s that time of year again, when all of us homeschoolers are thinking about what we will do for the next school year. In the past, this time of year would have been super hectic trying to pick which curriculum for what subjects I was going to use with my oldest. I have been sort of an “eclectic gatherer” with him as money was tight, and I thought I could not afford a “boxed” curriculum. With some special encouragement from a fellow blogger and a resolve to make our finances work, this year we chose to bite the bullet and go with a big name boxed curriculum, and I couldn’t be more thrilled with how it is turning out.  

Choosing a Curriculum

First, ask yourself questions about your teaching style. What is most important to you? Is it that your children test well? Would you like your children to have an education similar to what they would get in the public system? How do your children learn best? Are they auditory or kinesthetic learners? All these questions will shape what curriculum you choose.  

Secondly, don’t be afraid to commit or fail. If you choose a curriculum and it fails miserably, that’s okay! You are the teacher, and it is perfectly fine to scrap something at the end of the year (or immediately) if it doesn’t work out. I always give books and subjects at least a quarter of the school year to see how it fits our family. If at any time I feel like it is not benefitting us, I give myself permission to toss it.  

Throughout this deciding process, be sure to be praying to the Lord (and talking to your spouse) about your choices.  My husband oftentimes lets me decide what curriculum to use, but I talk to him each step of the way about when I am thinking of changing something up or adding something new.  

I really try to pray constantly that the Lord will lead us to the best choice for our family as well.  

 

HOW WE AFFORD A “BIG BOX” CURRICULUM

Now let’s get down to the nitty-gritty. The fact of the matter is this – we are a one income family. We just don’t have the amounts of money some people have to spend on homeschool curriculum. Therefore, if I was going to use an expensive curriculum, I was going to have to be very savvy in acquiring it. My tricks of the trade were Ebay, Amazon, used curriculum Facebook pages, used curriculum stores and sales in our area, and the library.

Ebay and Amazon

I found one of my Teacher’s Manuals and a number of books on Ebay. I began by searching the curriculum that I was looking for and going through and choosing items at a good price. Now, there are whole used curricula on Ebay quite often, which is an excellent value and sometimes much cheaper than you would pay in the other avenues that I am discussing.  However, you have to be quick and you have to be savvy. If you are going to bid on Ebay, you should set a price limit for yourself and stay within that range. One of the biggest auction no-nos is to get caught up in a bidding war. You end up paying much more than you would’ve liked because of the “thrill.”  Also, I often logged in within about an hour of when I knew that an item was to be sold so that I could outbid anyone who might have tried to get a last minute bid in. This is why I liked Amazon as an alternative.  It is a hassle-free way to get used books at a pretty decent price.

Used Curriculum Facebook Pages

If you are a Facebook junkie like I am, FIRST you need to be following us on Facebook! 😉  Then, search for “used homeschool” in groups and you will find many. My favorite one for our homeschool curriculum, My Father’s World Curriculum, is this one.  Another great group that I used for some our books, as well as other things was this one. When you get into the group, you will see a little magnifying glass in the right hand corner directly under the cover photo. If you click that and type in the box what specific item you are looking for, it will bring up a list of all posts with that item included. This is great for saving time by not having to look through all the posts, and saving money by being able to compare buyers’ prices. Use those negotiating skills when trying to find a deal. I have oftentimes asked if the buyer would take less and they happily obliged. I have bought many things from people in this group and never had any problems. However, I do encourage you to read all the rules and USE CAUTION! You are going to be paying someone for goods, and need to be careful with your information. I use several other pages to browse around when I need extras. It is customary in these groups to use Paypal as a means of transferring money.  

Used Curriculum at Bookstores and Yard Sales

I am all about having a book in hand and not paying extra shipping costs. I scoured my local homeschool sales and bookstores to find anything I could. This actually was my first method of acquiring needed books, for those reasons.  However, I found the least amount of books I needed this way.

Library

Have you ever thought of borrowing the books? The great thing about Charlotte Mason style homeschooling is that it often relies on real, living books, not dry textbooks. Your local library probably has some of these books available to you. The problem I am running into is that I love these books so much, I often end up buying them anyway.  

Other ways I saved

I did not buy every single item on suggested for the curriculum. If there is a supplementary item needed for the box curriculum, oftentimes you can make it!  If your curriculum calls for math drill items, print some math drill pages online. Oftentimes, you can find or make the materials needed for a science experiment or observation. I have even found similar materials at our local Dollar store. Finding a group of mamas who are using the same curriculum can provide an invaluable resource! In these groups, I have found great deals at local stores that can be used for our homeschool work.  

One thing to consider…

Time vs. Money. As you can see, all this researching and looking for items takes a big chunk of time. I did not mind spending the time it took to do this because we just did not have the extra resources that it took.  However, know that you will spend a good amount of time saving money. I compare it to couponing. Is the time it takes to buy the paper, browse the inserts, and clip the coupons worth the money you save? Yes, if you don’t have the extra money to spend and don’t mind spending the time. However, if time is more important than money to you, then you may want to fork out the extra money to pay for a whole set of used curriculum or buy it new.

So here are the numbers…

Our boxed curriculum, brand new, would have cost…  $679.45

I paid a grand total of…

$266!!!

(roughly, give or take a few dollars)

One of the biggest gripes of homeschooling should not be, “We can’t afford it.” Even if you don’t spend as much as I did, if you want to homeschool, find a way to make it work for YOUR family.

What tips do you have to share with us about saving money on homeschool curriculum? What has worked for your family?

 

Stephanie Shott
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