Living On A Budget

Many homeschoolers tend to be one income families, which means the budget tends to be tight, perhaps a little tighter than others. Over the years the one thing I have heard often is how can I afford to homeschool?

The biggest fear I think is how to transition from two incomes to one. Or, if they already live on one income how to afford curriculum and perhaps added expenses of homeschool groups, gym classes, music/instrument classes, etc.

Well first, determine what is truly needed and what is icing on the cake! Homeschool groups, gym classes, other types of classes and enrichment is nice, but it's really not necessary. If you can't swing it you can't swing it. There are plenty of ways to get connected with others -- it might mean you going out on a limb, reaching out to locals, and suggesting play dates.  This can be scary if you don't know anyone, but with social media it makes it's easier to find people.

Besides the social, the other thing is the curriculum! When you are starting out that can be scary and overwhelming! I remember when I decided to homeschool howI was overwhelmed by the choices. Back then, 10 plus years ago, it didn't seem to be as many as there are now so I can only imagine how newbies are feeling!  Google is not much help.

As a matter of fact when you google search "homeschool curriculum" the first page is full of academies where you pay tuition and the price tag is clearly in the thousands per child. A newbie that doesn't know much sees that and assumes it takes big bucks to homeschool! I think this causes them to search the other end "free homeschool curriculum" and while many free things show up like complete plans, worksheets, sites, etc it still seems overwhelming because the free choices look incomplete, look like you have to do a lot of work, and it leaves newbies feeling like they are incompetent and unable to tackle homeschooling.

Add on the feelings of "I'm not qualified"; "I'm not a real teacher" and it well just gets muddy. No wonder many never get out of the gate and homeschooling is nothing more than just a thought. Bottom line is how can I afford it?

Well, in truth you have to decide on a budget.  One of the best things that I was told and like to share with newbies is curriculum shopping is a lot like car shopping.  Almost everyone understands car shopping. You have a budget, you know what features you want: how many people does it need to fit? automatic or manual? power windows? GPS? You just have a list of features you want and a price range. When you go looking you try to find what best meets your needs within the budget you have.

This is how to approach curriculum shopping. This is what makes homeschooling affordable. Have a budget; What is your child's learning style? What subjects do you want to cover? Do you want to heavily plan it out? Do you want it planned out for you (where you just follow a lesson plan)? etc. Once you know what you are wanting you are better able to find what you are looking for within your budget.

Sure that might mean just like car shopping you have to compromise and that's okay. Also, remember a curriculum is a TOOL you can use as much or as little you want of it and it's OKAY to modify it to fit your needs better. Sure, modifying a car might not happen, but you can modify a curriculum to fit your needs.

Curriculum modification basically means moving faster or slower then what the publisher recommended. Skipping pages or lessons that don't fit or are not needed. Using the curriculum different then what the publisher attended, etc. 

Does it get tiring living on a budget all the time? Sure it does. Sure it's getting frustrating to having to watch every penny. I won't lie, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love my kids and spending time with them and being that teacher and mom!

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