Budget for a CM education.

Tagged: 

Viewing 2 posts - 16 through 17 (of 17 total)
1 2
  • Author
    Posts
  • March 22, 2012 at 9:46 pm
    LindseyD
    Participant

    Ok, this discussion got me going. Tongue out I have been shopping for next year’s curriculum anyway, so I decided to go ahead and add it up. As I mentioned above, we already have several of the resources we’ll need for next year. I ordered the suggested companion resources to go with Module 3 History today. I got all of them on http://www.abebooks.com for $25.61! Once I order the e-book of the actual module, we’ll have a full year’s worth of history/geo/Bible for less than $40! Not bad, eh?

    I went ahead and found the rest of our resources. Not including picture study and composer study, my grand total is at $221.99, including what I ordered today. I think I’m doing pretty well so far! I don’t know if I’ll buy anything for our pic/composer studies, because I feel those books/CDs are things I should get at the library, and that is what I have always done. My children do participate in extracurricular activities: Taekwondo and baseball for ds and gymnastics and/or dance for dd. I don’t typically include those costs in our school budget, because it would go WAY up if I did. 

    I post all that to say that $300 is most definitely reasonable for a school budget! Once I buy supplies like paper, pencils, gas for a field trip or two, and any other little expenses we encounter during the year, I’m up in the $400-$500 range, which is right in line with our family’s budget. We are not part of any co-ops so I can’t speak for including those costs. In my opinion, homeschooling is cheaper than public and private schools. Cheaper than private school, obviously, because we’re not paying outrageous tuition or for uniforms. Cheaper than public schools because my children would have to have a lot more clothes if I sent them to school everyday. And we would still have to pay for field trips, lunches (whether bought at school or taken in a lunch box), supplies, and any activities they might want to participate in such as theater or plays, athletic shoes and clothes, gas to attend sporting events or other activities, entry fees for fairs, contests, or clubs, and the list goes on and on. So, your hubby can rest easy…$300 is a really good deal! Kiss 

    March 22, 2012 at 9:55 pm
    crazy4boys
    Participant

    Like many here, we spread it out over the year.  I also plan ahead and purchase several things I know I’ll need in the future to save on shipping.  If one boy needs a new math workbook, I’ll look ahead and purchase for anyone else finishing that year and buy for them too.  I also hit the after-school sales to get our school supplies for the year and buy clothes when they go on clearance (after all the public school kids bought them at full price because they needed them by a certain date).

    I hit library sales like crazy as well as used bookstores online.  But I buy books year round – that’s where I spend more than $300.  Every time we need a new math level, it’s a big ticket, but then each kid after only needs a cheap workbook.

    One area we’ve really been able to save though is in cars.  After 10 years of marriage we are still a one car family because we homeschool.  I do have to make arrangements with hubby if we want the car to go somewhere, but we haven’t had a second car payment or insurance or extra gas.  

    So, some years are $300 or more, but on years that we already have most of what we need because we’re re-doing a history cycle or we already own that level of spelling or math or whatever, it’s much less.

Viewing 2 posts - 16 through 17 (of 17 total)
1 2
  • The topic ‘Budget for a CM education.’ is closed to new replies.