What do you budget for a year?

[EKT]

Some of this also depends on what categories fall under "homeschool" to you. I think mostly of curriculum, stuff I probably wouldn't be buying if my kids were in school. Regular books, music lessons, or a zoo membership, while educational, are stuff I would hope to budget for regardless of where my children were learning the three R's.

 

This is a great point! I agree most families would likely be paying for all the extracurricular stuff no matter what (whether their kids are homeschooled or go to institutional school), so that can really change the way you look at your homeschool budget. 

[MDL]

Wow! Is that for one kid or more ?

 

Two kids, one boy takes 45 minute lessons and the 7 year old takes 30 minutes. We travel a bit, so that is for about 9 months. I'm really wondering if it is worth it, though....

[MDL]

One thing I always remind myself is that whatever we pay to homeschool, it is always far, far less than private school tuition. Where we live, there are no private schools-Waldorf, Christian, anything--for less than $15K per year, and most are at least $20K per year. So, honestly, if we spend a few thousand dollars on homeschooling per year, I consider that a huge bargain.

 

 

Private school costs here are even worse, most are $50,000 annually plus donations. They are definitely better than public schools, which are still pretty good, until high school when heroine is rampant. ☹ï¸. But, homeschooling is so SO much better than either option! Parent doesn't miss out on the child's best hours of the day, the child gets a 100% customized education, the list is long.

[nixpix5]

One thing I always remind myself is that whatever we pay to homeschool, it is always far, far less than private school tuition. Where we live, there are no private schools-Waldorf, Christian, anything--for less than $15K per year, and most are at least $20K per year. So, honestly, if we spend a few thousand dollars on homeschooling per year, I consider that a huge bargain.

 

We budget every cent, so the amount is always slightly different each year, depending on what we're studying. (For example, I think we'll need a science dissection kit this year, but we don't need that sort of thing every year.) But on average, for two children (rising 2nd and 5th graders) I'd say we spend about $500.00 total per year on actual supplies and curriculum. That is for everything, though: books (those I can't get from the library), actual curriculum like Math U See, art supplies, printer ink, pencils, educational board games I've specifically identified for use as part of school, etc.

 

Then we spend about $200.00 total per year to participate in our co-op, which is mainly for friends and enrichment.

 

Then we spend about $2,500.00 total per year on extracurriculars/classes. For this coming year, we'll spend about that much to put one child in ballet, one child in music lessons, and to finance a family pass to an indoor pool so we can swim an unlimited number of times throughout the year. We also usually go see a play once per semester. There might be some museum admissions in there, too, but most of our museums are free.

 

So, on average, I'd say we spend about $3000 - $3500 total for two elementary kids, but again that number includes every little thing, down to notebooks and paper. But like I said at the beginning, $3000 a year is peanuts compared to the $30,000 it would cost us to send two children to private school. So, I think a lot of it is how you look at it and think about the true value of a home education (which is priceless, honestly, in my opinion).

So true! The Christian school we had our 3 in before homeschooling was a bargain at 7000 per student but then donation requests, field trips, fundraisers at every turn, made it so much more expensive. We adored the achool but but my husband and myself were working full time. Now I am home, enjoying my childrens' best hours of the day and customizing their education how I want to. They have more time to do things like piano, soccer, gymnastics without feeling like it is taking our precious family time. I don't feel guilty for dropping a couple grand on curriculum and classes when we were spending so much more. Homeschooling is the best decision we ever made as a family hands down.

[airforcefamily]

One thing I always remind myself is that whatever we pay to homeschool, it is always far, far less than private school tuition. Where we live, there are no private schools-Waldorf, Christian, anything--for less than $15K per year, and most are at least $20K per year. So, honestly, if we spend a few thousand dollars on homeschooling per year, I consider that a huge bargain.

 

Not just private school but public schools were expensive for us. Cafeteria or brown bag lunch instead of leftovers. Field trip fees at $15 each per child times 2-3/year. Super specific supply list plus replacement items for the community supply bin during the year running $40 or so per child per year plus supplies to keep at home for homework. Donations of cleaning supplies from the classroom wish list, around $15 per year each. Materials for required projects and costume items for plays, maybe $100 per year total. Gym uniforms for $25 per child. Dress code appropriate cloths we otherwise wouldn't have bought, around $75 per child. Gas money for drop offs and pickups when they miss the bus or are carrying stuff. Copays and medicine for then they sick for the umpteenth time. Yearbook fee. Cupcakes for their birthday. Charges for lost or damaged library and textbooks. School picture day. Dances and fun nights. T-shirt the whole class is wearing on field day which will make you feel like a horrible parent if you don't buy. Chipping in for teachers week gifts. Fundraisers that you feel guilty of you don't at least give a little bit to. The worst one of all for us? The fundraiser where a company comes in and frames your child's artwork then sells it to you for $50 a pop. How can you tell your kids that no, we're not going to buy the special framed painting they did?