Hello!! You landed here because you want to homeschool successfully on a tiny budget! I’m so glad you did because I have a few great tips to share with you.
When other parents and mom’s find out that I’m a homeschool mom blogger, the one question consistently that I’m asked is “how I’m able to homeschool successfully on a tiny budget?”. And honestly, it’s a very valid question. Hint: you saw my post and clicked on it to find the answer.
Before I started homeschooling, I asked myself that question as well. While each and every household and family has a very different budget, there are avenues and possibilities galore to find ways to homeschool within your budget. Some weeks, the curriculum that we work on and work through costs literally ZERO dollars. (And let me tell you, that’s a great feeling!)
From my experience from the many years of homeschooling, I’ve learned a few tricks of the trade that I’m excited to share with you! Yes, there are simple ways to homeschool successfully on a budget, and I’m more than happy to tell you a few of my simple secrets on how to make it happen.
**This post contains affiliate links. Please read my full disclosure here.**
Here are my 7 best tips to Homeschool Successfully on a Tiny Budget:
#1 Tip to Homeschool Successfully on a Tiny Budget: Make use of your library card.
If you are a homeschooling household, then you know that the library is automatically your new best friend. And if you haven’t figured that out yet, you are missing out! Take a day trip to the library and just familiarize yourself with all the options that are there.
There are so many other amazing ways besides books (which are still awesome!) to add some unique and fun ideas to your homeschool curriculum. They have audiobooks, computer programs, and even courses that you may be able to take online, for FREE.
Not to mention, the library often holds educational classes several times per week as well. And one other avenue to check on at the library is to see if they have a homeschool co-op that meets there as well. While you can also get some top-notch resources from the library, you can also meet many other homeschool parents and build a great support system, too.
#2 Tip to Homeschool Successfully on a Tiny Budget: Optimize your use of digital resources.
Some days, the thought of traveling outside the home with the kids in tow just isn’t a reality. Trust me, we’ve all been there. And while traveling anywhere to learn may be out of the question, there are still a ton of great online digital resources that can easily bring that learning directly to your homeschool classroom.
Ebooks are a great way to educate your little ones, and places like Amazon offer some great sources to purchase for very little money. (and again…check with your library as they have ebooks that you can rent immediately for download that cost nothing!)
The same options go for Audiobooks as well. Some children love to read, and some love to be read too. Regardless, there are choices for little to no cost at all. And don’t forget to do your research on online subscriptions. Some may have a price tag associated with them, but many do offer a trial period of 2 weeks up to a month where you can utilize all the benefits and then decide if you want to commit to a monetary amount. Take advantage of the options to help enhance your homeschooling curriculum!
#3 Tip to Homeschool Successfully on a Tiny Budget: Homeschool Bundles.
Most of the bundles only come around once a year, for a week only, but it is seriously the best opportunity to buy amazing homeschool resources with so little money! The largest bundles sale is the Build Your Bundle and usually happens at the beginning of May.
Some of my favorite bundles offered in the Build Your Bundle sale are the Charlotte Mason bundle, the Thematic Units bundle, and the Character Training bundle.
When shopping for homeschool bundles, I look carefully bundle by bundle and mark what fits our homeschool curriculum needs for the year and what I know my kids would love to learn about. The bundles make a great supplement to any homeschool.
#4 Tip to Homeschool Successfully on a Tiny Budget: Printable Resources.
Let me just say…printable resources are simply perfect for homeschool curriculum planning. And when I say there are a ton of resources out there, it’s no joke. You can find downloadable worksheets, workbooks, etc. to compliment your current area of study.
This includes all the amazing homeschool printable curriculum we buy every year from Build Your Bundle and reuse over and over again. With multiple children, I buy it once and use it again in the next year with the younger child.
Some great sites to find those printable resources include Educents and Education.com. If you have a printer at home, put it to work. You’ll love the ease of the printable resources, and your children will love having their own worksheets to work on as well.
#5 Tip to Homeschool Successfully on a Tiny Budget: Reusable Curriculum.
Talk about an amazing way to homeschool successfully on a tight budget! Sonlight Curriculum saves us a lot of money. While you may see the cost associated and think that it is expensive, it’s truly not when you break it down and look at the cost associated with everything that you’re getting. The cool part? 80% of the content is reusable which means that you can buy it one time, and reuse it for the remainder of your children as well.
Plus they offer a payment plan which gives you up to 12 full months to pay. (Talk about a great way to budget and break up that cost!) And if you aren’t happy with their products or service? They offer a 100% refund for up to 18 weeks after using it. I love the fact that they stand behind their products.
And if you are anything like me, sometimes I have questions about certain curriculum and I want help right then and there. Sonlight Curriculum actually has advisors that are there to help you and to answer your questions anytime!
I love Sonlight! This will be our 6th using this amazing Charlotte Mason inspired curriculum. Check this video out on how Sonlight simplifies my homeschool.
#6 Tip to Homeschool Successfully on a Tiny Budget: Notebooking.
NotebookingPages.com is fantastic. I honestly use this resources quite a bit. Not only do I love it, my kids do too! They have literally thousands of pre-made notebooking pages for every subject and theme you could possibly think of. And the best part? They are already created and waiting for you to print. Easy as that, seriously. You search for the topic you want, and you print it. Could it be any simpler?
Notebooking can be used along with any homeschool curriculum or no curriculum at all. Notebooking goes really well with unit studies too.
Free Notebooking Pages Product Sampler from NotebookingPages.com.
#7 Tip to Homeschool Successfully on a Tiny Budget: Free Resources.
And don’t forget about the free resources that you can get right here on my site! I love to share with you, and I have hundreds of free homeschool curriculum and resources on my Freebies page. Totally free, and absolutely accessible for you and your homeschool lesson planning at any point in time.
You Can Homeschool Successfully on a Tiny Budget!
Don’t let your budget or money worries be what stops you from moving forward with your homeschooling plans. There are a ton of great ways to homeschool successfully on a budget! The suggestions above are great additions to any homeschool curriculum, so check them out and see if they work with for you and your curriculum planning. Once you start doing the research, you may be amazed at how simple it is to stay within your budget when homeschooling!
Need more homeschool help? Check these posts out.
- The Birth of Jesus Christmas Writing Prompts {FREE Printable}
- 4 Easy Ways to Simplify and Make Your Life Better Now
- 10 Awesome Reasons to Attend Our FREE Homeschool Moms’ Retreat
- How to Find Christian Curriculum Choices for Your High Schoolers
- 5 Amazing Christian Curriculum Choices for your Elementary Child
- 6 Christian Curriculum Choices for your Kindergartner
- 3 Easy Ways To Get Back Into Your Homeschooling Routine After A Break
- What is a Homeschool Morning Basket, and How to Start One
- 10 Ways to Avoid Homeschool Curriculum Choices Overwhelm
- FREE Summer Journal for Kids
Teach your kids independence and responsibility at easy!
Ana is the unhurried homeschool mom of 3, wife, health coach, social media and online marketing strategist, and blogger. She loves to encourage, inspire and empower moms to go from stressed to blessed by providing them with the tips, strategies, and resources they need to succeed. Ana is the founder of They Call Me Blessed and the creator of 5 Days to Your Best Homeschool Years, Grow Your Blog Partying in 30 Days, and the Beyond Blessed Life Planners. She leads a vibrant online community for moms on Facebook and you can connect with her at www.facebook.com/theycallmeblessedblog.
Great article for new homeschoolers!
Thank you, Jessica!!