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Budget Life: Homeschooling

Hi there. I am starting a mini series called Budget Life that will include tips on how we live on a single income. Today's topic is homeschooling.


Homeschooling can be expensive with all the fancy curriculums and extracurricular activities available today. It feels overwhelming to decide what's worth the money and what's not. Homeschooling is also a very personal endeavor and no two homeschools are exactly the same. With that said, I am going to share with you some of the ways I navigate homeschooling on a strict budget.


Here is a list of FREE homeschooling resources that I personally use.

  • Find free community events and schedule them on your calendar. Surf Facebook for local events or the famous Google search. There are free STEM fests, Healthy kid events, Movies in the park, Fishing with free-to-use poles & bait, Concerts, Educational library classes, and all the free holiday events. This is a huge money saver and you can still have great fun and do lots of life learning.

  • Find a free Nature group to join. Check on Facebook or with your local mom friends and get plugged in with a nature study group. We do a hike and nature journal with our homeschool friends, every week. It's like a co-op, but free!

  • Free online courses. Our two favorite, full curriculums are AmblesideOnline and easypeasy. All the subjects and all for free. That's what I am talking about. Check it out!

  • Follow homeschool blogs. They are give out free curriculum or discount codes. A few of my favorites are Homeschool On, Proverbial Homemaker and Enrichment Studies. Find them on Facebook or Instagram and then subscribe to their email lists. I am subscribed to around twenty homeschool email lists and have more freebies than I could ever use.

  •  Join your local Buy Nothing group on Facebook. Let's say you need an abacus for your child's schooling. You can simply ask your neighbors in the group for one. If your neighbor has one they were looking to get rid of, they can simply gift it to you. And when you are done with said abacus, you can offer it up as a gift to another in the group. It is an awesome way to gift and be gifted while meeting your neighbors. Highly recommend getting involved. 

  • Thrift store books. Our local thrift store offers one free book to each child, every time we go. Um, what?! Homeschool mom's dreams are coming true! If you have this in your area, take advantage of it! We have scored so many awesome books from this. Dr. Seuss to Dry-erase activity books to classic novels to brand new school work books. And when we are done with them, that's right, we donate them back for the next kid to enjoy. 

As you can see, with this list of free resources, you can homeschool your kiddos on a $0 budget if you want to. How amazing is that? And by utilizing these freebies, you can use more of your homeschool budget for trips or sports. I say a big YES to that.


I would love if you dropped a comment below to let me know which resource you will be including in your homeschool.


Signing off,
~Shantel

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