Soror Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Can you make me feel better about it? Everytime I buy anything I worry it will be a waste. That we will not use it, or I will then find a better deal. I try to buy only well-reviewed items. Sigh. I feel like I should be doing everything free but it is a lot of work and somethings aren't the same, tbh! So, I just spent about $450 $90 on I See Sam books- hard to find used, we are finishing up the first 2 sets and he loves these, he is making great progress and it is easy for me- I ordered 3 sets plus the booster set to save on shipping $100- Music Program- Making Music Praying Twice- I have wanted a music program that tied the liturgical year and regularly kids songs for a long time, this is for birth -8 yrs and 5 CD w/ books and teachers guides. I hesitated spending so much but the kids have loved every music CD I have ever bought, so I think it will be well-loved. $40-Music instruments- to accompany program- we have a few but yet again this is something they love $75-Misc fiction books for read-aloud - classics and such- all bought used- having a harder time finding those more to his level at GW and such $60- Various religious books- books on saints- picture book series $25- 4 Classical Music- Books w/ Cds aimed for kids $12- Sr Wendy's Art book and Art in Prayer for kids- I have no big art books so wanted something for the kids to be able to look up pieces, and to use the art in prayer for picture study $30-Various Fairytale/Poems Collections- Grimms, HC Anderson, Lear, Kate Greenaway, and Charles Perault- don't have very many of these and the kids love them beside they are supposed to be good reading and it just doesn't feel the same reading around the laptop! I tried to find ones w/ good illustrations for the fairytales and sound translations So, yep, think that is it! What have you bought lately? Please, make me feel better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PentecostalMom Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I don't feel guilty! I used to try this or that, or switch because something appeared not to be working. After 12 years, I have changed my ways. I chose something I love (Sonlight), and a complete packaged classical curriculum (Memoria Press), and decided to stick with it. We do have a couple of extras, but it is much simpler for me than trying to gather all of the resources I wat to use in WTM. I love the classical method and am so thankful MP has a complete package! BTW, I buy SL cores new, this year about $400, though I did manage to get most of MP used, spent about $200, and bought art books & drawing pencils, too. My dh would rather me just buy what I need and don't stress trying to piecemeal it together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NanceXToo Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I don't feel guilty, but then, I don't tend to "curriculum hop" so it's not like I'm always going "ooh I need this, and that, and that, and this and I'm going to change to that, and then this" and so on. I bought OMK through OM8 used from one person for a great price, and my son is going to start with OMK in the fall and work his way through all of the grades, and my daughter started with OM4 and is set through OM8 (she didn't even begin homeschooling til toward the end of third grade, so before that, it was a non-issue). As of this year (5th grade) I chose to use Teaching Textbooks for our math portion of the curriculum (because my older version of Oak Meadow didn't have its own built in math from 5th grade on and suggested Saxon, which I didn't want, so I chose TT, which I plan to use from now on. I bought TT5 used). I have bought a few extra things this year to try/supplement but I don't think I go nuts with it. Like, I bought Life of Fred Fractions and the second book in the series used from someone here to try out in the fall in conjunction with our main math curriculum (we will be doing TT 4X a week and LOF 1X a week, if my daughter likes it). I bought Times Tales (book and DVD) to help reinforce her multiplication tables. (The DVD has seemed effective btw!) and I bought the paid version of the Timez Attack game for the same reason (and for fun). I bought Meet The Masters (art) (half price via homeschoolbuyersco-op.org) to use for next year's art curriculum. And I bought "Sentence Composing for Elementary School" recently after reading good things about it here, and I've added it to my daughter's Language Arts; we've been using it for several weeks now. MTM was the most expensive thing I purchased at around $45.00. I plan to get two school years of art instruction out of it. The Times Tales DVD came in second at around $30.00. (oh and Timez Attack was kind of pricey too I'll admit). Other than that, I replenish craft supplies and school supplies over the summers, and now and then I buy various kids' books used at library book sales, thrift shops, yard sales, used book stores, and once in a while on Amazon if it's a must have. We do try to utilize the library a lot, too, though, and not feel like we need to own every single book we read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmulcahy Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I feel guilty about the $1000 plus I spent on Tapestry of Grace. It has overwhelming for us and I bought way too much. I have shelves of books that did not get read. If we get good use out of the purchase I generally have no guilt.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted February 6, 2011 Author Share Posted February 6, 2011 My dh don't care either, ever, and we are very blessed and can afford it - no debts and dh has tons of mandatory overtime lately. I thought about going ahead and buying a whole packaged program, I just don't like any tbh. I have looked at everyone I can find out there! So, I would rather spend extra money building the library up. In the good news I should be set mostly for next year- I already have the reading, spelling, writing, Math already bought. I am going to do SOTW but waiting to buy it used. I might eventually go to some prepackaged art curriculum but right now I figured those 2 books would be good to have around and fairly cheap at $12. I am happy I went ahead and bought the music, I kept trying to get things together on my own and it was too much, although the kids loved it. I was happy to go ahead and buy a packaged music curriculum, I hope it works well. Maybe I will cave at some point and buy a packaged art program as well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted February 6, 2011 Author Share Posted February 6, 2011 I do buy lots of books at Goodwill and yardsales but around here it is hard to find good kids books - lots of character books though. Our library isn't the best either, unfortunately. Thankfully we plan on lots more kids, so things should get use! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I feel guilty everytime. But, it is soooo silly to feel bad about buying schoolbooks. I try to buy stuff gradually over the spring, so it isn't very noticeable in our finances. If they were going to private school, we'd be writing tuition checks every month - for hundreds of dollars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaMa2005 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I don't feel guilty. For one, I don't curriculum hop so I don't have the 'bigger and better' syndrome :). Second, the money I spend on curriculum is minuscule compared to the price of a private school that could POSSIBLY meet DS's needs. For what I spend on curriculum, enrichment classes, TaeKwonDo, private Mandarin and piano lessons, and other miscellaneous school supplies only comes to about 1/6th of a private school. That's a lot of years of homeschooling with just the right materials to even meet one year of school tuition. The only books I buy for DS come from Goodwill, yard sales, consignment sales, etc. He just inherited my older Kindle and only gets books that are free. He has an extensive library for very little outlay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gratia271 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I don't feel guilty. Although I have spent significant amounts of money, it is still less than $50k for the private school my children would otherwise attend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Um. No, I do not feel bad about investing in my children. Can't really think of a better use for my limited funds. I don't hop about much, I make a list and mostly stick to it and the bulk of my purchases are made once a year and we usually use what we buy. Ive made maybe two major curriculum "hops" in the 10 years ive been homeschooling. And they probably werent that major to others. My kids are better educated for the most part than they would be in public school. Over all, I think the couple grand I spend per year is far less than I would spend if I sent them to the supposedly free public school. So no, no guilt here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abbeyej Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 No, I don't. And over the years there have been things that I haven't used much or even that I realized later weren't worth buying. I chalk that up to "experience". The vast majority of things I've bought have served us very well. Sometimes, just as I might be something expensive that doesn't give us as much use as I might hope, something inexpensive has turned out to be a real workhorse. As long as it balances in the end, as long as my kids are getting a great education, as long as I'm not spending money we *don't* have, I feel pretty good about it in the end. I also ask myself sometimes, "Which of these resources would I *not* have bought if we *weren't* home schooling?" I look at friends who really value theirs kids' education and development *and* send their kids to traditional school. I find they often spend as much or nearly as much on things like: fiction and literature books, art supplies, science kits, music enrichment and education, logic games, even math supplements... If you were to look at your list, which things might you still have bought for your kids even if they went to school? I do spend a lot on books. And sometimes I cringe. Right now I want to buy "Discovering Music". It looks *fabulous*, but it's $179. But for most stuff? If I can keep it within money that we *can* spend for these things, I don't bother to feel guilty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalicoKat Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Never! But I do try to buy used or sales. Paperbackswap's been a great way to pick up some of the want-to-haves. It's about enriching and educating the kids. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenC3 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Not one bit. I would be writing a check for $850 for the oldest 2 every month. Much of what I buy will be reused on the youngers. I spend $100-200 a month average so quite a bit of savings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted February 6, 2011 Author Share Posted February 6, 2011 I never had much luck w/ PBS having the books I wanted, after doing so many searches I kind of gave up. I do always buy used though, well unless it is a book that is cheaper new. I look for older editions as well to save money. I try to buy from as few places as possible, then check for discount and coupon codes. Some things it is hard to find used though, like the I See Sam books, especially the later sets. RightStart was just as cheap new, the music program I bought was relatively new- just revised this last month. I have been most pleased w/ the things we have bought, probably about $100-$130 worth of things that didn't work out, but I guess that isn't too bad. I need to list some things for sale that didn't work for us and hopefully recoup some of that, since I bought used for most of it, hopefully I don't lose too much. Of course I think if I am spending money, I could be spending it on worse things! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I wouldn't call it guilt, but I feel a fair amount of stress anytime I spend more than $50 on anything. It would certainly give me pause to spend $450, but then I would move on knowing that it's money well spent. The only real guilt that I have ever felt about hs spending has been on compulsion purchases (mostly motivated by fear or self doubt and purchased at conventions). I'm at a point in hsing, that I am pretty good about not doing that to myself anymore. Seventh grade was a real minefield for those types of purchases. When I look at the big picture, I feel no guilt about the money spent. I know that private school, and even public school, would be more expensive than this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Princess Peach Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 No I do not feel guilty. With homeschooling, I spend in one year what I used to spend in one month of private school. It's all relative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgiana Daniels Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 There's always a moment of guilt for me, as we are trying hard to save money for a big purchase in our future. However, it's small potatoes compared to the money spent on our oldest on private school through 2nd grade ($400 a month). My husband insists I should spend any amount necessary on the kidlets. I'm SO thankful for his attitude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happypamama Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 No, I don't feel guilty buying stuff for hs'ing. I use my library a ton, as well as free online stuff, but that's not always sufficient. I try to budget carefully for it and am very frugal and selective, but sometimes there's just a point at which I need to spend something. It's an investment in my children, which, while not an excuse to go crazy, is a very good thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I feel a little bit guilty about my beginning of school year buying spray. But what made me feel a lot better was that DH had estimated I'd spent $500 (and told me that he was OK with it), and when I added up the cost of all the books I had bought, it actually was only about $150.... I buy everything used. So, I love spending money on homeschool stuff... I feel less guilty that I would for spending it on anything else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murphy101 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I wouldn't call it guilt, but I feel a fair amount of stress anytime I spend more than $50 on anything. It would certainly give me pause to spend $450, but then I would move on knowing that it's money well spent. Oh yes. I get the stress of trying to stretch limited funds AND get quality AND get what meets the need of each child as best I can. Yeah, sometimes that is a bit stressing!:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Um. No, I do not feel bad about investing in my children. Can't really think of a better use for my limited funds. {snip} So no, no guilt here. Well put. I refuse to feel guilty about purchasing items to improve my children's education. I may bargain shop and look for sales, carry around book lists when I go to thrift stores and library sales. But no guilt, homeschooling is one of parts of life in which we, as a family, have chosen to invest our time and money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Can you make me feel better about it? Everytime I buy anything I worry it will be a waste. That we will not use it, or I will then find a better deal. I try to buy only well-reviewed items. So, yep, think that is it! What have you bought lately? Please, make me feel better! I chewed a knuckle over Atelier, but it is turning out well. I am currently chewing a knuckle over physics experiments equipment. My shopping cart at Home Tools is filling up and going down and filling up and going down. I believe I'm secretly hoping a miracle occurs, and RSO suddenly becomes available for physics. I'm set to start MCT in April, and I've already bought it, but don't want to think about if it is "not for us". :grouphug: You aren't alone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAutumnOak Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I feel guilty about the $1000 plus I spent on Tapestry of Grace. Is it really that much after you buy all of the stuff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAutumnOak Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I wouldn't call it guilt, but I feel a fair amount of stress anytime I spend more than $50 on anything. It would certainly give me pause to spend $450, but then I would move on knowing that it's money well spent.....When I look at the big picture, I feel no guilt about the money spent. :iagree: I know that private school, and even public school, would be more expensive than this. I know that private school is way more expensive than any HS curriculum out there, I don't care what you choose, but I never thought public school would be expensive...I would LOVE a different perspective on this, can you explain? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.