Many of us, have tight budgets and many children to educate. In this article I plan to share with you ideas I have used over the years to keep it affordable, but I would love to hear your ideas too!

First expense is time. How do you afford to live on one income? But that is a huge topic and will have to be discussed at another time.

The second expense is books. Oh how we homeschoolers love our books! We buy curriculum for math, English, science, art, music, Bible, home ec, etc. Then we gather up all those readers like Holling C. Holling and Little House on the Prairie. And for fun we pick up art supplies, board games, flash cards, and science kits. And who doesn’t love when all the school supplies go on sale in August every year? It’s like candy for me, I can’t help myself. But how do we fit all this in our measly budget?

Spread it out! Plan ahead and buy a little at a time. I plan every year to bulk up on the school supply sales, so that is in my budget. By August I should have most of my books and curriculum already so saving a little out of the budget for school supplies is easy. And a budget I need or I will go crazy and buy more than I have room for! Start planning a year in advance. I know this sounds really out there and impossible, but it really isn’t that hard. I have finally settled on My Father’s World curriculum, so I know what I will be using next year. I start now digging around for used copies of the books I will need. This really saves me a lot of money! I use PaperBackSwap for a lot of my books. Sometimes I do find the books I am looking for at thrift stores, but unless I find a thrift store that has a frequent homeschooler that donates, this isn’t usually the most effective way. Curriculum Share looks like another great find, but I haven’t used them yet. My point is start digging early. Many large cities have used homeschool book fairs and stores. Take your list with you every where you go and be prepared to find a bargain!

A word of warning about used book sales. As many of us are addicted to buying fabulous educational material, used book sales can be dangerous. Stand firm with your list and be strong! If its not something you are going to use within the next school year – don’t buy it! This will defeat the purpose of saving money.

What about field trips? I love a good field trip. Many of my friends have called me the field trip queen because we make it a point to include them at least once a month. We have been to many zoos and museums, living farms, The Creation Museum, ranches, parks, grocery stores (this is a fun one), historical sites, and more. Some of these can be quite pricey but many are free! The A-Z guide to home-school field tripsis a good place to start for ideas. Check your state park website too as many of these are free or have small fees. A grocery store can be a great place to go to practice math or check out the gourmet cheese counter. Grocery Cart Mathis a fun book for using the grocery store. Many museums have free days. Get on your local museum and zoo’s email lists so you can know about their special exhibits and free days. And a zoo membership is well worth the investment. Many times they are in an organization with other zoos which allows you access to many zoos, not just one! Children’s Museums have the same set up.

Last year we studied the trails that the people used to move west: The Oregon Trail, The Santa Fe Trail and The California Trail. While making a road trip we discovered a historical marker for the Santa Fe Trail! How excited we were to make a pit stop where many years ago settlers were traveling west. This was an unplanned field trip, but doesn’t make it less memorable. We have to always be looking for field trip opportunities wherever we are. If you go to the dentist, talk about it with your kids before you leave the house or on the way there. Get their little minds rolling on the subject and they will come up with their own questions to ask the dentist. Go to a book store and enjoy the coffee table book section. You know those big expensive books that have fabulous pictures. You can find them on animals, natural landmarks, and people. My kids love looking thru those books. I could write a book on field trips, so I will stop now.

Let’s move on to extracurricular activities. Many of us have mixed feelings on whether or not to allow our children to participate and if we do, what do we let them participate in? Music lessons are a popular choice and we partake in these too. But this can be expensive! Instruments and books and lessons add up. The only way to really save money here is to teach them yourself, but few of us have the talent necessary. Another way is to barter. Do you have something you could offer the instructor in trade for lessons? Sometimes they are willing to work a deal, sometimes they aren’t. But you don’t know until you ask. Instruments can be rented from music stores if you can’t do the big upfront cost. We were blessed and were given a piano. I wasn’t so blessed and had to buy my brand new violin. But we love music and I think it was worth the investment. And it is an investment!

I don’t have any great tips for saving on sports, mostly because we haven’t gone that route. Sporting equipment is expensive and mostly sports are time consuming, but if you have a budding athlete you will want to give them the best opportunities. My sister was a world team gymnast growing up. Even though I didn’t pay for all that time and equipment and leotards and road trips, I can imagine the cost. My dad was a landscaper and ended up doing and maintaining the gyms landscaping in trade for lessons. Bartering is a great thing! My girls did ballet one summer and every once in a while you can find used leotards and such at thrift stores. But this does require some digging. And although I’ve never been in one, I have seen second hand sporting good stores. Check them out!

Another wonderful homeschool opportunity is co-op classes. We have lived in three different states since we began homeschooling and we have found these classes every where we have lived. Some are very expensive as they bring in professional teachers for subjects like Chemistry or foreign languages. But many are small groups where the parents take turns teaching. These are usually more affordable, if not free, and offer your students to learn a subject you may not know very well. I taught Shakespeare one year and the parents of my students were very appreciative as it wasn’t a subject they were comfortable with. If there isn’t a group near you, start an informal one. One of my friends did a science co-op at her house one year for the high school boys. That way the parents could share the expense of the microscope and other equipment and the boys could dissect things together. This cut way down on cost of materials.

There are so many opportunities to be had out there! Go have some fun without breaking the bank!

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