leeannpal Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 O.K, I've read both the homeschooling cheaply and spending a fortune threads on this board, and I hope to end up somewhere in between. We will be starting homeschooling in late summer for the first time. Since I need all our curricula, minus several read aloud/readers, I would love to have tips and/or tricks to help save money. I am religiously checking on the sale and swap board here with little luck so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frugalmama Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 My tricks are: Using PaperbackSwap - I get tons of stuff from here Shopping thrift shops, used book sales, etc - lots of goodies here too. Curriculum Share - post an offer for something you already have, and then post what you are in need of. The Book Samaritan - I put a request in here for us this year. I got some of what I needed, and some things I couldn't/didn't want to use. I passed these along on Curriculum Share - see above. Swagbucks / Irazoo - earn amazon gift cards from searching online, codes, and offers, then cash those in on amazon to buy items you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawn E Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 I have sometimes had success by posting things I need on the wanted board. One year I posted a very eclectic list and a person responded with almost everything! I was skeptical and requested a photo, and she did, in fact, have it all. Be wise and careful, but buying used can get you great deals. Make a list of all you need and compare the prices at amazon, cbd and rainbow resource. Make wishlists at those places. Take into consideration that many readers are part of the 4-for-3 deal at amazon. You can get free shipping for $150+ at RR, and people have said you can often get free shipping codes from cbd by calling. Frequent Goodwill or other thrift stores. You can find many readers recommended by various companies at a huge discount. Homeschoolclassifieds.com is another source for used items. Also find out if your local homeschool group will be holding a curriculum sale at the end of the school year. Join Homeschool Buyers Co-op for possible group-buy deals on some of the more expensive items. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birchbark Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Our homeschool conference has a large used curriculum/book sale and I get tons of stuff there. Also our school district has a program where homeschoolers can enroll with them and they will pay for all but the most explicitly religious curriculum. They claim there are no strings attached. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teeniebeenie6 Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 Half Price Books clearance, thrift stores and Once Upon a Child book section have helped me get many books I needed for cheap. Putting a want list on here has gotten me some great things and keep watching For Sale and Trade. I've found entire lots of what I was specifically looking for suddenly show up on there. Going to the library each week isn't possible for us so buying most of our books has been a must. Thankfully I've found most very reasonable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 (edited) I don't know the ages of your dc, but for my first year of homeschooling (my oldest was only 5 - she's 11 now) I didn't go out and buy tons of curricula. I visited homeschooling friends and borrowed or looked at their curriculum; and checked out curriculum at homeschool conferences. Your library may even have curriculum you can borrow to see how it works with your family. It's hard to just choose curriculum and hope it works well with your individual children or even your teaching/personality style. I've bought so many curriculum books and never used them just because they looked good or sounded good. It takes time to discover what works best with your family. Edited February 15, 2012 by tmoan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyoflearning Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 We are on a strict budget and I am frugal. I can't see spending more money than I need to for something. However I love curriculum and I will use whatever I feel is best despite cost. One reason I homeschool is so that my kids can have a better education than elsewhere- not because I can do it cheaply. I try to not let cost ever be something that keeps me from using what I think is best for my chid and me as a teacher. Here are some things I do: I do tons of research to figure out what I want so if I did spend money it will be well used. In purchasing, I try to use the option where I can most likely reuse the material for my other children. I check our local homeschool group for garage sales and frequent those bringing along my amazon wishlist and booklists from different publishers.I also have an app on my phone where I record all the books I own so I don't double buy (living books). We have a homeschool conference each year along with a local homeschool used book sale and I buy most books at those for minimum of 40%+off I use the library a lot to check out books from multiple reading lists. I've used the sale and swap board here and also had some really good luck on ebay-just know what you are willing to pay. I'll also join the yahoo group of the curriculum I'm interested in and purchase it from sellers who are finished with what I want. I've tried to get to know lots of home schoolers in the past year and have been given a few things and been able to borrow a few things. This next year I am going in with another mom to purchase a history kit and do it together which makes us each only have to pay for half. I've used homeschool buyers co-op and currclick looking for good deals and went in on a group buy for VP history for this next year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joyoflearning Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 I got RS B from someone giving it away on our yahoo homeschool group. I've bought groupons that were half off offered for our local bookstore. I've been stocking up on free ebooks recently. I use some free curriculum like Little Otters Science and BFSU is a $5 download. I'm going to buy a new laser printer this next week to be able to print more downloads cheaper. I purchased some office supplies at Staples in August when they were having 1 cent deals for teachers using my homeschool buyer co-op teacher's card. (50 packs of index cards= 50 cents). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjgrubbs Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 I have bought LOTS of used materials through homeschoolclassifieds.com I have never had a problem but I do check the ratings for those selling. One time a lady sent me the wrong book - I think she mixed up mine with something else she was selling to someone else but she fixed it. I have also purchased a few things on these boards. I've sold in both places, as well. One thing I've had to do is sell curriculum when we are through even though I intend to use it again later with a different student. It stinks but I guess I'm really renting the curriculum this way. If I buy used and sell it for the same cost, I'm only out shipping one way, so I figure I can afford that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 O.K, I've read both the homeschooling cheaply and spending a fortune threads on this board, and I hope to end up somewhere in between. We will be starting homeschooling in late summer for the first time. Since I need all our curricula, minus several read aloud/readers, I would love to have tips and/or tricks to help save money. I am religiously checking on the sale and swap board here with little luck so far. Know what you have to have in a specific title and what you can get away with having in general categories. For example, I want to have specific math curriculum, specific Latin and German texts. But I'm looking for general book about ancient Rome and mythology. I know what classic lit I want to cover, but I'm flexible on what editions. This lets me take advantage of finding things at garage sales, thrift stores, library book sales and on Paperback Swap. I don't waste my time on books in the specific categories that aren't what I'm looking for. But I can snatch up the general category items whenever I see them. And being flexible on general categories lets me take advantage of great books that might not be listed in popular curriculum anymore because they are a couple years out of print. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txhomemom Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 I agree with what everyone has suggested on here. I shop at all the usual places garage sales, Half Price books, Amazon used, WTM board, homeschoolclassifieds, etc. There are also library book sales you can find from time to time in your area. Ebay sometimes has good deals, although lately not as much as been posted on there because of the high fees. I even see stuff in my area posted on Craigslist. I have to say the number one way to save money on curriculum is once you buy what you need for the year, quit coming on this board and reading about new stuff! That always gets me into trouble! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeannpal Posted February 15, 2012 Author Share Posted February 15, 2012 Thanks everyone! These are ideas I can really use. Now I ' ge just got to make a final decision on what we plan to use:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
learningmama Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 I hit the local homeschool book sales in the spring and then anything I could not find there I get from Ebay/Amazon used or Rainbow Resource/Christianbook.com/publishing co. brand-new (I usually wait for the sales too). This system has always worked well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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