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Homeschooling budget?


Juniper
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Dh and I are trying to figure out an reasonable amount to budget monthly for homeschooling. If you had to break down expenses monthly, what do you think is reasonable for a family with 4 kids 11 and under?

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We do monthly, and have great luck with 100 a month. I do go thru and make my list of what we will use and when it runs out, so I can break it down by month of when I need to buy it, and then I look for things on sale too.... but yes, 100 a month works well with my three kids (but they are 6 and under- you may need more for older kids)

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We budgeted $800/year. But a large portion was for TOG year 4, evaluation, binders, and sheet protectors all buying new. We did try to guestimate how much for all the different subjects for this next school year but I realize, I needed a little more because I decided to use Singapore math (didn't budget for this) as primary and Rightstart as supplement. But I'm hoping next year it would be less since now I have all 4 year of TOG. I only have 1 child in 3rd grade. Although if I decide to use videotext as rightstart recommends...that's a lot of $.

Grace

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I can't wait to show hubby this thread! He thought I was nuts thinking $100 for the two elementary kids and $75 for the high school per month was going to be tight!

 

I think it could be depending on what you choose for curricula honestly.

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We have set a budget of $150 a month for our 2 kids 10 & 6. I use our tax refund for the major curricula and co op and supply expenses for the year. This is our first full year [2012-2013] to homeschool so I think mine might be a little above average b/c of buying stuff we normally wouldn't have had in our house.

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I have two first graders (we are half way through 1st grade) and we have been budgeting $1,000 per year, although we definitely end up spending more than that when supplies and everything else are included.

 

Part of the reason we are spending that much at this age is because it sometimes takes some trial and error to find the right curriculum/tools for both the students and the teacher, even after researching it to death. I'm hoping that, as we go along, we will find the things that work for us and stick with them.

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Depending on how many kids and what ages/grades it can range from $50/mth to $500/mth. On that higher end, might be a high school level student that is taking more expensive classes. Also, something else to consider is extracurricular activities which become more important as a homeschooler, that can raise it even higher. When my dd was taking gymnastics it was around $50/mth. I have seen various other science, art, etc classes for anywhere from $30-$100/mth. We have been more frugal the last few years so have not splurged on these types of things as much. We also had a gym membership at one time (they had a pool, rock climbing wall, classes, etc) and it was around $140/mth.

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We budget $100 a month, but since I use a literature based curriculum, that also includes all the books I buy for our home library. It used to be $50 a month, but as ds started getting older and I was finding I needed different writing programs, or had to try out a few math programs, etc., I needed more. I'm sure if I didn't also use it to build our library, I could get by with less, but I like that my kids have many books they love available for them to read.

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Ok I will not tell you what we spent last year because after reading this thread it's almost embarrassing. But I will say we spend approximately $100-$150 per month on books and supplies, these are in addition to curriculum. So readers and additional books that I didn't consider "core", extra manipulatives, additional workbooks, generic student/teacher supplies (paper, ink cartridges, art supplies etc).

So in total I spend X dollars on curriculum, usually in 2-3 large purchases throughout the year (we school year round). Plus the above amount monthly. Plus what we pay every month for field trips, music lessons, sports fees etc.

Now to be fair, we DON'T use the library, I simply don't have time and I don't have hours to search the Internet for a lot of what may be out there for free.

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First you have to define "homeschooling". Does that include all real books? Does that include art supplies? Does that include physical education supplies? Does that include the baggies and rubber bands you will use in a science demonstration?

 

I'm an empty nester now who self-educates and tutors inner city disabled, ESL and homeless women. My budget is whatever is left over after I bought food, and the bare minimum of clothing. Sometimes it cuts into my food budget enough, that it's nothing but tea and toast by the end of the month.

 

Studying is the way I self-soothe. It's what I do to prepare to be useful to others. It's just what I do in general. It's what I spend my money on.

Edited by Hunter
TMI
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I consider my homeschooling expenses to be what I spend to educate my children so yes I include art supplies in that if they are on the art supply list for the course/curriculum. I do not include things like playdoh or lego because they are not utilized by my course of study. However that is not to say that if my children attended school I wouldn't spend that money because knowing me I would most likely be an afterschool and still buy a lot of educational stuff.

That is why I didn't include things like music lessons or sports fees because I wanted to be more specific. I think $100 or more a month is reasonable assuming that you purchase outright most of your books and curriculum. Multiple children increase that amount but they do not double it because often big expenses need to be purchased only once for a family (our microscope and telescope come to mind) I do have lots of friends that homeschool on a much smaller budget but they invest a lot of their time and energy finding free or inexpensive sources for curriculum and learning opportunities. I think these are amazing, hard working, dedicated moms and dads and I applaud their efforts to educate their children at home despite financial barriers.

It's just my opinion but we looked at the tuition costs of good private schools and I feel if I am spending less than that each year I am way ahead of the game. :001_smile:

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I agree that you have to make it clear what you're counting. On just books and materials for 2 second graders, we spend a good bit less than most of these amounts - I think we spent less than $300 for all that this year. On the other hand, if you include museum memberships, field trips, sports, ballet... then that amount is significantly higher.

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Also what needs to be considered is, what you would be spending your money on, if you were NOT homeschooling. The children would need more expensive school clothes. There would be the list of supplies each teacher would demand. There are all sorts of fees that students must pay. Expensive field trips. Project supplies. You wouldn't be at home to cook. Everyone would have different and more expensive entertainment tastes. You all would have hobbies of some type, that you wouldn't think of as education.

 

Your whole LIFE would be different. And you would be spending money on so many things that you don't spend your money on now.

 

I think it's very short sighted when I see some homeschool dads, call every worthy thing their family does "education", and then demand that bill get slashed to almost nothing, because it's not fair that he has to pay taxes and educate his children too. I'm not implying anyone here has a husband doing that! I've just seen it, and I think it's VERY shortsighted.

 

I think if a wife and children enjoy education, and it is infiltrated throughout every strand of their world, and the family can afford the items, then the "homeschool" budget needs to be very large in comparison to "education" for another family. It's apples and oranges. It's just not the same thing.

 

Husbands need to compare their family's food and clothing and entertainment and transportation budget with that of their peers, before tightening the purse strings too much.

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we have been budgeting $1,000 per year, although we definitely end up spending more than that when supplies and everything else are included.

 

Part of the reason we are spending that much at this age is because it sometimes takes some trial and error to find the right curriculum/tools for both the students and the teacher, even after researching it to death. I'm hoping that, as we go along, we will find the things that work for us and stick with them.

 

Depending on how many kids and what ages/grades it can range from $50/mth to $500/mth. On that higher end, might be a high school level student that is taking more expensive classes. Also, something else to consider is extracurricular activities which become more important as a homeschooler, that can raise it even higher.

 

:iagree: I don't have a set amount per month, but I put together a spreadsheet for the kids for each school year (but it runs during the calendar year - which doesn't many any sense once I think of it that way).

 

I have THREE school-aged kids (10 & under) this year (2011-2012) and FOUR school-aged kids (11 & under) next year (2012-2013). The oldest costs me the most & the youngest the least - because I can re-use a lot of what I have.

 

Our amounts don't include outside classes (karate, gymnastics, art, etc.), but do include our library membership (out of the area library $$ fee) since we wouldn't have it if it wasn't for our homeschooling.

 

We started out at about $300/yr & moved to $600/yr. We've been at $1000/yr for a couple years now. Half of that is solely for my oldest - half is for the younger two (new consumables) & shared stuff (art supplies, membership, copies, etc.).

 

I usually buy the bulk of my things a few times a year - in Dec/Jan, March/April, and then I finish up in the summer when I finalize stuff. It definitely isn't spread out each month evenly.

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1 high school, 1 preschool, and 2 others who follow along, and we spend $200 a month.

That includes co-op classes, pencils, art supplies, field trips, curriculum, music lessons.... Anything and everything "educationally" related. We are considering increasing it, because we couldn't afford the full co-op payment out of our budget last trimester.

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Our budget is about $1500 a year...Curriculum costs me around $1000 dollars and the extra $500 is used throughout the year on stuff...So I spend about $1000 up front (either from taxes or DH's bonus), and then budget around $40 per month for any extra things I might need...Last year I didn't buy curricula up front and bought throughout the year, and I ended up needing about $150 a month, so I went over last year by a couple hundred...I will make sure I buy up front this year and stick to my plan...Changing your mind is expensive :tongue_smilie:

 

My children will be 6, 8, and 12 by Fall...We pay a fee to belong to a co-op, but other than that we do no outside classes, lessons, or tutors at this point...We would have to increase our budget to do that and we can't at this point...

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Changing your mind is expensive

:iagree:

and so is using more than one curriculum ("supplementing") because nothing is exactly the right fit. Don't get me wrong I'm glad I have a budget that allows me to make mistakes once in a while in curriculum choices but sometimes it can be frustrating wasting time and money on something that turns out to be an epic FAIL

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:iagree:

and so is using more than one curriculum ("supplementing") because nothing is exactly the right fit. Don't get me wrong I'm glad I have a budget that allows me to make mistakes once in a while in curriculum choices but sometimes it can be frustrating wasting time and money on something that turns out to be an epic FAIL

 

There is such a funny thing about epic fails when you are on a tight budget, and let me tell you, I was on a TIGHT budget back in the 90s. When you have no curricula for a subject and you just start using the library and real life, the student often learns more. And other times you just have to skip that subject for at least a few months and that frees time up for another subject that wouldn't have gotten so much attention otherwise.

 

I'm against being tightfisted with homeschool budgets, unless you NEED to, but I'm also not at all convinced, that a large budget provides a superior outcome. I just think a large budget is more FUN, and more than justified in most cases. Depending on the family's income, the mom and kids deserve a decent chunk of the resources available.

 

Moms and kids are so resourceful. They do amazing things with whatever they have, big and small.

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For a rising 4th grader, 2nd grader, and pre-schooler we budget 75$ per month. This is only for wouldn't-buy-it-if-we-weren't-homeschooling stuff, although I find some of it rolling over yearly, so I buy a bunch of literature which, knowing me, I'd likely buy even if we didn't homeschool...

 

It's kind of a blurry line.:D

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I'm against being tightfisted with homeschool budgets, unless you NEED to, but I'm also not at all convinced, that a large budget provides a superior outcome.

<snip>

Moms and kids are so resourceful. They do amazing things with whatever they have, big and small.

 

:iagree:

 

Even though I have one of the larger budgets posted, trust me, my children are no better educated than by someone with a $25 a month budget. I just buy more books. :tongue_smilie:

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Even though I have one of the larger budgets posted, trust me, my children are no better educated than by someone with a $25 a month budget. I just buy more books. :tongue_smilie:

 

:iagree:

yep, that's me too and I think I also keep more because I don't have to necessarily resell what we just finished with. I don't think my kids are better educated I just think I'm just too lazy to make trips to the library each week.

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For a rising 4th grader, 2nd grader, and pre-schooler we budget 75$ per month. This is only for wouldn't-buy-it-if-we-weren't-homeschooling stuff, although I find some of it rolling over yearly, so I buy a bunch of literature which, knowing me, I'd likely buy even if we didn't homeschool...

 

It's kind of a blurry line.:D

 

I thought you said 75 CENTS :D I was laughing so hard, at what you said around, what I thought was 75 cents. I know some people adore the challenge of using free materials. It's like a game to them. Your post is an entirely different post when it says DOLLARS. It's not nearly so much fun to read now :-(

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I don't think my budget is reasonable. :D I overspend on my kids' education because I'm a curriculum junkie AND it's the only pleasure spending I allow myself to do. I use our tax refund to pay for everything and if I broke down what I've spent for next year, it'd probably be over $300 per month. That's for two kids both in the grammar stage!

 

I've done a preliminary budget for the following year because my husband's going back to school and our income has been cut considerably. If I buy everything I want, we're looking at $230 a month, but if I use the library for most of our books, I could probably get it down to $150-175.

 

If it came down to it and I had no other choice I know I could use a free curriculum outline/book list, the library, public domain books, and free educational websites to homeschool completely for free.

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Also what needs to be considered is, what you would be spending your money on, if you were NOT homeschooling. The children would need more expensive school clothes. There would be the list of supplies each teacher would demand. There are all sorts of fees that students must pay. Expensive field trips. Project supplies. You wouldn't be at home to cook. Everyone would have different and more expensive entertainment tastes. You all would have hobbies of some type, that you wouldn't think of as education.

 

Your whole LIFE would be different.

 

:iagree: We spend $750 a month on tuition for our three kids to go to Catholic school. The actual tuition for them is $1440 a month but we got financial assistance from the diocese. Dh and I sat down and figured after uniforms (that we usually buy used from the schools clothes closet), shoes (They need 2 different kinds in perfect condition at all times. With 2 boys that's almost impossible), foods to pack for lunches, $500 worth of "supplies" at the begining of the year. Most of it being toiletries, kitchen supplies and countless reams of paper demanded by the teachers. Then there is the gas to get them there and back, and all the nickle, diming and $20ing they do to you we spend over $1100 a month. That doesn't include the $1100 a year book/technology fee (that gave my kids great stuff like 15 year old history and science books, although the middle schooler was suppose to get an iPad to use next year). The tuition is suppose to go up to $1670 next year. Also, even though we are making a third less this year because of me being newly disabled we didn't get near as much financial aide. I guess everyone is hurting in this economy. Thank goodness we had decided on homeschooling already so when I opened that envelope that said next years tuition would be $1400 a month I could laugh and not cry:lol: Being homeschooled myself I also agree that our lifestyle will be completely different, and for the better. We are so ready to slow down. I'm hoping that the $1100 book/technology fee we normally pay will get us pretty much set for the year and we will still save $15400.:D

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I budget $150-$200 a month in for my three kids ages 8 (grade 2/3), 7 (grade 1) and 5 (K/grade1). I am hoping next year to trim that down to $100/ month though as I already have half the year planned out on paper as for what we'll be needing. We make use of our public library though and have a bit of a book share amongst some of our friends.

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5 kids all in grammar school I'm budgeting 200 a month.

 

That's curriculum, art supplies, all paper and pencil and other office type supplies, anything I need for the school room like desks, boards, lamp, new table. It's the whole thing.

 

My goal is to only use 150 or less on curriculum so I'm left with 600 for hands on experiences.

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We spend around $300/year for my first grader.

 

5 kids all in grammar school I'm budgeting 200 a month.

 

That's curriculum, art supplies, all paper and pencil and other office type supplies, anything I need for the school room like desks, boards, lamp, new table. It's the whole thing.

 

My goal is to only use 150 or less on curriculum so I'm left with 600 for hands on experiences.

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:iagree: We spend $750 a month on tuition for our three kids to go to Catholic school. The actual tuition for them is $1440 a month but we got financial assistance from the diocese. Dh and I sat down and figured after uniforms (that we usually buy used from the schools clothes closet), shoes (They need 2 different kinds in perfect condition at all times. With 2 boys that's almost impossible), foods to pack for lunches, $500 worth of "supplies" at the begining of the year. Most of it being toiletries, kitchen supplies and countless reams of paper demanded by the teachers. Then there is the gas to get them there and back, and all the nickle, diming and $20ing they do to you we spend over $1100 a month. That doesn't include the $1100 a year book/technology fee (that gave my kids great stuff like 15 year old history and science books, although the middle schooler was suppose to get an iPad to use next year). The tuition is suppose to go up to $1670 next year. Also, even though we are making a third less this year because of me being newly disabled we didn't get near as much financial aide. I guess everyone is hurting in this economy. Thank goodness we had decided on homeschooling already so when I opened that envelope that said next years tuition would be $1400 a month I could laugh and not cry:lol: Being homeschooled myself I also agree that our lifestyle will be completely different, and for the better. We are so ready to slow down. I'm hoping that the $1100 book/technology fee we normally pay will get us pretty much set for the year and we will still save $15400.:D

 

This is all exactly what I'm talking about. Unless people have had kids in school

and can compare, they just don't realize it's about WAY more than tuition.

Edited by Hunter
TMI
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Our budget is about $1500 a year...Curriculum costs me around $1000 dollars and the extra $500 is used throughout the year on stuff...So I spend about $1000 up front (either from taxes or DH's bonus), and then budget around $40 per month for any extra things...

 

This is basically how I do it also, although that doesn't count our co-op/classes fees; that is about what I end up spending on school books that we use at home. Things like notebooks and pencils etc are not part of the HSing budget, because I would have to buy them anyway. I have five currently schooling, and I try to reuse as much as possible.:001_smile:

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My goodness, we are new to this and I'm bringing home a 4th grader. All I know is that I have bought stuff, decided it wasn't for us and resold it. Of the things I've kept, many of them are duplicates because I have no idea what's really going to work for us. My BFF has hardly spent any money, she grabs stuff off the free table at her co-op :lol: Her husband is a pastor, so you get that! Anyway, I've spent the motherload so far in trial and error and still need to spend about $300 or so just to get going this fall. If I bring DDS6 home, heaven help me b/c he's a different learner all together and is gifted. :)

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I've been making lots of jokes about my spending, but this morning, I realized that what I have been doing is not sustainable. It was actually good for ME to be reckless for awhile, and then stop being reckless, because I WANT to, not because I am AFRAID, or am being FORCED to stop.

 

Okay, so I had my little teenaged spending spree. Nothing bad happened except my socks have holes and I ate a lot of bread. BUT...my TOTAL quality of life can be better if I BUDGET better. So...

 

Today I'm watching the youtube

AGAIN, and folding up a big piece of paper.

 

Is anyone else in the process of cutting back, cutting WAY back?

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Is anyone else in the process of cutting back, cutting WAY back?

 

Me!

 

I have to budget better. Though I am not giving up our co-op classes I am looking at limiting the books I buy next year. Drastically limiting.

 

I found some great curriculum used at the last book sale and I keep debating if I want to try Ambelside Online next year. I am just mad that I missed that refurbished Kindle deal last week.

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I've been making lots of jokes about my spending, but this morning, I realized that what I have been doing is not sustainable. It was actually good for ME to be reckless for awhile, and then stop being reckless, because I WANT to, not because I am AFRAID, or am being FORCED to stop.

 

Okay, so I had my little teenaged spending spree. Nothing bad happened except my socks have holes and I ate a lot of bread. BUT...my TOTAL quality of life can be better if I BUDGET better. So...

 

Today I'm watching the youtube

AGAIN, and folding up a big piece of paper.

 

Is anyone else in the process of cutting back, cutting WAY back?

 

 

Actually, this is why I started this thread. I to needed to have a bit of a rebellious/reckless phase, but it is not what is best for my family and long term goals. So, here we are, back to a budget. ;)

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