Homeschooling With Fewer "Small Green Pieces of Paper"- Blog Cruise

"This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this:  most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time.  Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy."  ~Douglas Adams

"I am having an out of money experience."  ~Author Unknown

"The best way for a person to have happy thoughts is to count his blessings and not his cash."  ~Author Unknown

We live in a society where it costs money to live and, although I love the Adams quote, I'm not quite sure how to change the green paper induced unhappiness without changing our economic system and yeah..can't see that happening.  I know many homeschoolers are making due on one income and can frequently relate to the second quote.  And I know the last quote is easier said than done, but is so very true.  

How do all of these relate to homeschooling?  As with any decision in life, cost comes into play. This week's Blog Cruise questions get right to the heart of the matter by asking;

 How do you afford to homeschool?
What are some ways to save money on homeschooling supplies? 

When you compare the cost of homeschooling to that of private schooling, it is positively cheap.  With all of the fees being added to our local public schools (bus fee, extra curricular fee, etc.), public schooling is becoming almost as expensive as schooling them at home.  And there are so many resources available today that I believe you can homeschool on any budget, if needed.

But how do we do it?  For our specific family, we designate our tax return to homeschooling each year.  As we have had a large amount of dependents to claim (that is changing as they grow up!) and a modest income, this has worked well for us.  It means not using it for a new couch or catching up on bills or taking that vacation, but this is our priority.  This is probably not an option for those in other countries, but it works well for us.

The second question is more relate-able to everyone.  Homeschooling can be as expensive or as cheap as you need it to be.  I like having the option to use what I think is best for my family, and will spend more for a product that works better for us, but I know that I could homeschool "on the cheap" if necessary. Some of the following ideas I already use frequently (shopping discounts, used, etc.), some I have learned from friends, but hopefully there will be something here of use to you!

• Discount Stores (Christian Book Distributors, Rainbow Resource, ROCK Solid)
  
• Homeschool Buyers Co-Op
  (It's free to join! And by negotiating for a group rate, homeschoolers can save quite a bit.  I love Homeschool Buyers Co-Op and have been very happy with my purchases through them.  If you are interested in joining and you click through the button on the left sidebar, I will receive Smartpoints. Which would be cool.)
  
• Local Used Curriculum Sales
  
• Online Used Curriculum Sites (Veg Source, Homeschool Classifieds, Ebay)
  
• Ebooks- CurrClick
• Freely Educate
  
• Ambelside Free Charlotte Mason Curriculum
  
• Homeschooling on a Shoestring
  
• My Own Needs to Be Updated List
   
• Unit Studies (Steward Ship, Valerie Bendt, Christian Cottage, TOS Modules, Learning Adventures, Five In A Row, etc.)

These are just a few ways my friends and I save money in homeschooling.  I'm sure there are many more great ideas and sites to check out and would love it if you would share in the comments section!  In this economy, we need all the help we can get.  You can also check out more responses to these questions, when the Blog Cruise posts on Tuesday.