Homeschooling: To Budget or Not To Budget?

To budget or not to budget… that is the question for our homeschool this Monday morning.

We’re in a unique situation for a military and homeschooling family.  We have an only child.  It’s definitely not the norm for either of these circles, but it is the norm for us.  We embraced the uniqueness of our family situation given to us by the Lord.  Being that we do have an only, we are able to spend more on schooling if necessary.  That being  said, I like to keep costs down as much as possible because we want to be good stewards with our finances while providing Munchkin with a solid education.

Do we have a technical budget for our homeschool?  Not exactly.  I normally have a rough figure with which to work, but if I need more money than I tweak other areas of our budget to make it work.  Normally, I seek out the best deals possible on the curriculum that we need.  I tend not to purchase everything at once which allows the expenditures to be spread throughout the year instead of having to pay a large sum all at once.

As Munchkin moves into higher grades, we are watching schooling costs increase, so we continue to make adjustments along the way.  There is the possibility that we’ll be adding the cost of dual enrollment at some point in the future if her educational and life goals remain consistent.  Those choices will require that we set up a more traditional budget for her schooling.

We have learned to use these purchases and expenditures to help teach Munchkin about good money management.  As we make decisions about her future schooling, we keep Munchkin in the loop, so she can see the different costs associated with various choices.  We also want her to understand that it’s a privilege to be able to use some of the resources that she’s been given, and there are almost always costs associated with the choices, so she should never take them for granted.

One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. ~Luke 16:10-13~

Some of the methods we use to save on our homeschool necessities:

• shop used curriculum sales and sites
• watch for deals on Amazon and eBay
• use swagbucks* search engine to earn Amazon gift cards
• shop “back-to-school” deals and clearance sales for school supplies
• search paperbackswap* for needed books and curriculum
• sell no longer needed curriculum
• barter for services and supplies
• make own supplemental materials

I’m always on the look-out for great places to save on curriculum, so if you have any ideas, please share.  If you homeschool, do you have a strict budget for the year?

*affiliate links