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Budget
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Hubby says we need to try to cut our school budget. This is the first year we have actually made one, so we are new at it. I think we are spending what we normally would it just seems like more since we actually wrote it all out.
Right now it is about $700
That is for a kindy and 3rd grader. We do not use the library due to having one car and 3 younger children. Also, that includes a Kindle which we decided would be a great investment with moving and traveling and such. Plus I found 30+ free books we can use. Pretty much it is buying everything, but I tried to be very picky and not include books that I thought we would not read or were too pricey.
Does this seem like a lot?
I tried find as much ad I could used, but it seems like once you pay $4 for shipping a $.99-$2 book you may as well get the new one for free shipping.
I reminded hiim as the younger ones get older we will bairly spend anything on them since we will have nearly everything. We did not use CM for kindy so we will have to buy most of that as well as 3rd grade stuff of course. I tried to overlap as much as I could. Maybe I am overestimating the amount of books we are going to read?
We are doing Gen-Duet next year in which I decided to buy the recomended books for because this year we started doing Greenleaf guide without the recomended books and were both bored to death! That does take up a bit of money too but we will use them all again at least once probably more.
I did find a while back a similar question and I remember it being a close price amount to this for 1 child, then I also recall seing some of you spend less for more children.
I really think he is just shocked because it is one price at one time verses me just getting what we need for the best price I can find and not keeping track of it.
If you are buying everything, and not really planning to use the library, I don’t think that it too much for 2 students, particularly if a lot of the things you are buying now will be re-usable for your younger ones as they come through the ranks over the next few years. I have to buy everything too since we don’t have library access where we live overseas, and I spent about $500-$600 for kindergarten. We don’t have a Kindle (yet), so I haven’t really explored much about how much we could save with free/cheap ebooks if we did have one. However, the only other educational option we have where we live is a private international school for missionary children where the school fees are $800/year for kinder and $1000 for grades 1-6…so I figure if I am coming in under that I am doing pretty well. And I do have two younger children who will be able to use nearly everything that we bought for our oldest to use this year – I am using very few consumables. (I think that is one of the great things about CM or any other kind of literature based approach). So over time we will save heaps over paying school fees for 3 kids, even though the initial investment may seem larger than necessary for only 1 student.
My thoughts anyhow!
Jen
I think $700 for 2 children is very reasonable. Especially since you have up-and-comers. I understand that it’s hard to justify when money is tight. But you really can’t put a price on an education second to none. I would rather have a yard sale or something rather than skimp on books. Even if you only could raise a couple hundred dollars, it would drastically help. I’ve also asked for school books (living books) for MY birthday and Christmas presents. And maximize that Kindle as much as possible. It’s a great tool and there is SO much out there free or almost.
Blessings to you as you seek to be good stewards. It’s a never-ending juggle.
I could not spend that much in one year ever, my allowable is about $200-300/year at a max for all children(5). I’ve had good suggestions from moms here to look at used library sales(which are usually in the evenings/weekends here so you could use your car). You could put future things on hold at Paperback Swap(although there are long wait lists for SCM books, but I think you would get some after waiting for a while). You might also just need to use free books online to cut some things down if they aren’t available free on the kindle. Someone sent me this link for free curriculum: http://www.oldfashionededucation.com/. And http://www.gutenberg.org. As far as buying new/used books, I haven’t seen any new books for less than 5.00 which you can find on half.com/abebooks.com/ebay.com, etc. You could also sell things you aren’t using anymore(sometimes not possible with younger children) on ebay/craigslist. There are lots of things in my house we don’t truly need that I’ve been able to sell. Hope that helps, Adrienne
We also have a budget much smaller than that. I understand about the library when you have little ones, and I understand about having one vehicle! It can be tough! I would suggest you just check with your library first before buying everything. Going to the library when my youngers were much younger was a nightmare, so I thought I had to buy everything, which is what I did for years. I wish I had called the library to talk about it then because I would have saved my sweet husband loads of money! I didn’t know that I could reserve books online – either through interlibrary loan, or just by placing books on hold that are available at my local library. The sweet librarians pull the books for me and email me when they are available and I just go pick them up on Saturday. Now, unless my youngers want to pick out some books for themselves, I just walk in with them and have them sit down while I pick up all of the books/movies at the desk that I have ordered online. If your library is closed on Saturday or if your dh works on Saturday as mine often does, maybe your dh could pick the books up for you. I don’t usually ask my dh to run my errands for me because he is very busy, but if he knows how much money we are saving by doing it that way, he is glad to go! Hope that helps!!
I have also found a lot of books cheap at children’s consignment shops. I’ve heard you can get a lot at goodwill and the salvation army too. Those are good resources for cheaper prices for the same great books. I have never seen half.com be reasonable because of the added shipping. Another place I just thought of is Ambleside Online’s curriculum yahoo group. People post books they are selling and you can also post books you are looking for.
HTH!
Dana
I’ll second the goodwill idea, but it can be a hassle with little ones and one car. I have had lots of success though with http://www.homeschoolclassifieds.com.
I’ll second what Heather says. It is exactly what we do. I’m always amazed at the number of books that my library system has. It is very rare that I need to buy a book. It saves us so much money. I don’t like to let the kids search the library for books because so many of inappropriate books and it gets hectic with all the little ones in there….hard to keep them at a quiet hush!
You know another thing with libraries… Our library (and maybe yours) will let you reserve books online then when they’re ready you can just stop by and pick them up. Maybe you could reserve them and your husband could go by and pick them up himself since he has the car. Just an idea!
Dana
Thanks ladies. I will see what I can cut using your advice.
I really can only rely on the internet (for now) as we do not have a good will or library sales or anything like that here. Our library here does not have a single book we can use..not kidding. Well they have Pollyanna and the like but those we can get for free online.
My hubby cannot be counted on as he is gone much of the time and will be gone for most if not all of the upcomming school year. That does free up the car but not me…he he!
I can probably get only what I need for now and see what I can find in the States. I plan to give my mom a list of things to look for at garage sales and thrift stores as soon as the list is set.
We asked for book and art supplies for Christmas from Grandparents and instead they got a buch of toys!
I have plenty of time so I will not stress about it. Also we should be moving…not sure where so maybe the library there will have better books.
I second the online reservations for the library. That has made a world of difference to us….no more searching for the books with cranky kids and wasting time. I do let my kids browse the library, but if I don’t want to actually use my time looking for the books that I need then I reserve them. And, I renew online (I mark my calendar for the date they are due so I don’t forget. I know the library sends reminder emails, but just in case).
We don’t really have a budget, I just buy as needed, but make sure I am look for things on sale, used (Goodwill, Thrift Stores, Friends of the Library) before I buy anything new. Obviously you’re not going to find (unless you are really blessed) certain things at the Goodwill, but for chapter/picture books, I search there and other used stores first. Even before I go online for stuff (if I have the time) I go out used-book shopping. My husband has no idea how much I spend on our boys, but he does know that I’m a tightwad, so he has no worries. I always tell him about these great deals I get on supplies (and the work or no work it took to get it)….he thinks I’m crazy. He would never spend the time ‘searching’ he would just buy new/used online and be done with it, so in his mind I’m crazy, but in a good way. He knows I will search and search for the best price, even though he couldn’t careless if I’d bought new.
I also ask for books/amazon giftcards/certificates to used book stores for my bday as well. I don’t really need anything (we are not rich, I’m just super frugal and don’t like spending any money on myself), so I would rather have $$$ spent on me that I know we will all use. I did look, and SCM has gift certificates. I am asking for them for my bday coming up (even if I get one, then I’ll be able to get the book I’ve been holding off on buying and not end up with something that I don’t really need). I know that sounds crazy, but superficial gifts wear out their appeal after awhile, but books or useful educational supplies for my boys are a true investment.
Oh, and I don’t think $700 is too much for two kids, especially when you consider the purchase of a kindle, which are 139.-189.+. So really you have around $550, is that right?? Anything that will be applied to future school years is a different type of expense, if you ask me.
With the Kindle (a good investment) – you can get a LOT of your resources free.
What are you spending on Math? There are 2 good free Math programs that I am aware of online… one is MEP, and one is Khan Academy. I do pring the MEP practice book… but I don’t print the MEP lesson plans – I put them on my Kindle.
I also have to mention BookSamaritan. They provide resources for homeschoolers that have problems affording them. You send a letter with the information about your homeschool, and they send stuff you can use. They do recommend keeping the options broad to get the most resources… (ie, it is easier for them to answer a request for 2nd grade math than it is to answer a request for “specific math course level 2”) – but I have sent a list of specific books and gotten many of them. I do tell them what I don’t need (ie, we already have a free math program so won’t need any math) It can take a couple of months to recieve the items so ask ahead of time… And also they rely on donations… so PLEASE anyone who has resources they no longer need – consider donating them to Book Samaritan. The more we donate, the easier it will be to get CM type materials!
I have 6 children ages 9, 6, 5, 3, 1, and 7 weeks. We use the library (love the computer to reserve books!), but we also buy books. What we do is try to choose curriculum that is reusable for each child. When you divide things out it really makes sense. The writing curriculum I use was $170.00 but is for grades 1-12. That was an ouch to spend at one time, but divide it over 12 years x 6 children and it was dirt cheap.
I also found the first few years were more expensive as I had nothing. However, I have spent lots of time checking used curriculum sales for things I can’t use a library for, like our math curricullum I now have 9 levels of Math U See (teacher’s manuals and DVDs) and I think I spent about $60.00 total. Yes, we’ll have workbooks to buy, though I’ve found 1 child doesn’t use every worksheet per lesson (they offer 6) so 2 children can use one worksheet, with their online worksheet generator at MUS as a backup for more practice if needed. I also am ruthless at culling my shelves and reselling things we are done with or that we didn’t like. That money gives me more of a homeschool budget.
It is harder to look at a total for 1 year, and it is subjective. I’ve had a year where we spent about $100.00, and others where we are able to buy more real books and spend close to $600.00 for all the kids total. One of these years I’m going to get an iPad or Kindle…
Thehauserfamily – it does seem like a lot when you see the number is print. I know that feeling! But I think you’re wise to be tracking the expense and budgeting will serve you well over the years. I understand that the library is inaccessible to you – and racking up library fines is something you’ll want to avoid. Building up your supplies does take the initial investement and perhaps your husband will see that once you point out that the books you’re buying will be used by the younger kids eventually. You might also want to point out that if your kids were in school. you would likely be spending more on clothes, lunches, gas, fund-raisers, etc. We homeschoolers spend more on books that the schooled families, but we do usually have other savings to offset the expenses.
Suzukimom – thank you for mentioning the BookSmaritan organization. I just gave away some schoolbooks we have outgrown, and I wish I had given them to the organization so they would go to a home that really needed them. Next time!!
Edited to add: YES – ask for books as gifts not only for your children but for youself as mentioned above! I do this as well. My mom especially likes when I do this as she doesn’t know what to get me or the kids. I tell her some books we would like – and I tell her used books are perfect for us, so she doesn’t have to spend much if she can find the books used.
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