Quiver0f10 Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 We are trying to start paying off our debt ala Dave Ramsey and hope to have our snowball rolling in the spring. In the meantime, each year my HS purchases have gone up and up. Next year I have a large amount of $ planned for what we will need for school. ( Yes, I already know what I would like to use next year lol) On the one hand I feel the $ is well spent because it's for the kids education and I have researched and chose programs that I feel will benefit our kids the most. On the other hand, I keep thinking we could school a lot cheaper if I tried harder. I am sure they would recieve just as good an education with less expensive programs, but it would be alot more work for me. My question is, with alot of debt, should I spend the $ on school or should I put that $ towards our debt and make do with what I can? I have heard of many people home schooling with a math program and library card, but I don't know if I can pull it off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cathmom Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 Great question! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynn Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 We are trying to start paying off our debt ala Dave Ramsey and hope to have our snowball rolling in the spring. In the meantime, each year my HS purchases have gone up and up. Next year I have a large amount of $ planned for what we will need for school. ( Yes, I already know what I would like to use next year lol) On the one hand I feel the $ is well spent because it's for the kids education and I have researched and chose programs that I feel will benefit our kids the most. On the other hand, I keep thinking we could school a lot cheaper if I tried harder. I am sure they would recieve just as good an education with less expensive programs, but it would be alot more work for me. My question is, with alot of debt, should I spend the $ on school or should I put that $ towards our debt and make do with what I can? I have heard of many people home schooling with a math program and library card, but I don't know if I can pull it off. It would take some planning if you wanted to get debt paid down and cut back on hsing expenses. Since you are 1 year away you have plenty of time to research and put some kind of plan together for hsing on a limited budget next year so you can pay off what you plan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skissugar Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 If you know how much you want to spend or need to spend to make school work for you next year.. then put it in your budget now.. I would divide the amt needed into how many months you have to save and then put it aside. Just like you would do saving for christmas in his plan. I hope that came across right lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 School expenses are right up there with groceries in my opinion. We plan for them, so we are not tempted to spend the dollars elsewhere. Cash flow, not credit, for sure. For a homeschool family the four walls would become five walls....shelter, food, transportation, clothing, and School. Plan for it. If your debt snowball lasts two or three more months in the long run, it is well worth it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*anj* Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 If you know how much you want to spend or need to spend to make school work for you next year.. then put it in your budget now.. I would divide the amt needed into how many months you have to save and then put it aside. Just like you would do saving for christmas in his plan. I hope that came across right lol. This is exactly what I was planning to suggest. Since you can estimate the cost, just start putting that amount aside. We've paid off our debt, but we are still working toward our 6-month emergency fund. I wasn't willing to make curricular changes this year, but one thing I did was to decrease the number of go-alongs that I'm purchasing. We are utilizing our library a lot more. And even though I forgot to renew 5 books and had to pay $4 in fees for the 8 days they were past due, that is still cheaper than buying all of those books outright. The only ones I've purchased are those that aren't available through the library system or ones that will be needed for multiple weeks/units. That saves money and space because I don't have to permanently house these extra books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraceyS/FL Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 If you know how much you want to spend or need to spend to make school work for you next year.. then put it in your budget now.. I would divide the amt needed into how many months you have to save and then put it aside. Just like you would do saving for christmas in his plan. I hope that came across right lol. I was just coming to post this. COnsider it a line item on your budget - figure out what your "drop dead date" for ordering stuff is, take that amount and figure out what you need per month. NOw if that figure isn't doable - then i'd readjust. I'd consider your 7/8th grade students and up as firm in what i'd do with them - the youngers you can wing it more. You can do it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BabyBre Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 Right, it's just one of your expenses, like a car payment. Your dc's education is something that's important to you, you've established that the way this works best for you happens to cost $X, and you budget for it like you would for groceries, for example, or private school tuition. I keep the money I receive from the sale of our old curricula in a seperate account to be used only for new (used) curricula or educational expenses. I will sometimes also sell the kids' old toys and clothes on ebay or craigslist, too, and put the money in this account. The new expenses do exceed what I have saved at times, of course, but I try to budget for additional cost, too. This works for us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Confuzzled Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 We're working on our debt snowball too. We save up for school expenses and never use the credit card to pay for materials anymore. By changing this one behavior and only paying with cash in the bank, our expenses have gone down. I only buy books the library doesn't have or that will be used for several months. Before DR, I bought complete Sonlight cores, including all the books and charged them. Now I use TOG, but I get almost all the books from the library. I use the Sonlight reader schedule but also get those from the library. I'm way more thoughtful and careful about what I order, whereas, before I charged a lot of materials I didn't use because someone on a board used them and loved them and I thought I had to try them. I don't try to get by with only free resources, but I do look at the price and consider cost vs. benefit before I buy. Kris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafiki Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagnfun Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 We are trying to start paying off our debt ala Dave Ramsey and hope to have our snowball rolling in the spring. In the meantime, each year my HS purchases have gone up and up. Next year I have a large amount of $ planned for what we will need for school. ( Yes, I already know what I would like to use next year lol) On the one hand I feel the $ is well spent because it's for the kids education and I have researched and chose programs that I feel will benefit our kids the most. On the other hand, I keep thinking we could school a lot cheaper if I tried harder. I am sure they would recieve just as good an education with less expensive programs, but it would be alot more work for me. My question is, with alot of debt, should I spend the $ on school or should I put that $ towards our debt and make do with what I can? I have heard of many people home schooling with a math program and library card, but I don't know if I can pull it off. Public schools in my area are not an option. Private schooling for the youngers is $3000, $5500 for Jr high & $7K plus for high school. Anything I spend on education homeschool will not come near what I'd spent if they went to private school (remember public isn't an option). So I plan ahead look for used, LOVE the library, trade w/ other homeschoolers then if all else fails I buy new. I've added education into our budget & save a certain amount each month. Money saved on curriculum allows use some cool field trips that we have to pay for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paula in MS Posted September 28, 2008 Share Posted September 28, 2008 I think for some people, it is possible to cut down to bare minimums and do a lot more teacher prep. I could do this if I chose, but I have 1 child. You have many children and I believe it is money well spent for you to have curriculum that does more work for you. I think it is probably a necessity in your case. You only have so much time. One on one with the children is more important than making your own lessons. If I were you, I would try to find ways to cut corners elsewhere to avoid homeschool burn-out. How much money are you talking about in all? Will you really pay off your debts that much quicker by cutting out curriculum? My only other suggestion is to post a list of your curriculum and see if anyone has any suggestions of where to buy or similar, cheaper alternatives. Good luck paying off that debt! Paula (Debt free but the house) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted September 29, 2008 Author Share Posted September 29, 2008 Thanks everyone! I have a good friend who basically said what you all have said, but I feel guilty spending $ when we don't have it, kwim? We are blessed in that we get a large tax return due to the child tax credits ( no we don't have any federal taken out and still get a return) so, for now, that is where I get my school money. At the time we don't have any room in our monthly budget for school supplies, so otherwise I'd have no choice. Eventually we plan to have that as part of our monthly sinking funds. I do buy a lot used and sell what I don't need and put that towards new, so that does help. Thanks for the reassurance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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