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I hear plenty of parents who say that they would love to homeschool if only they could afford it. There are plenty of ways to minimize the cost involved in homeschooling, but there are also plenty of ways to go broke as well. I tend to be one of the people who go broke. I’ve really been thinking a lot about the cost of homeschooling the last few weeks, due in part to the property tax statement we received.

Do you know how much you pay to your local school district in taxes? I had never paid attention before and, to be honest, I wish I wouldn’t have looked this year. About 80% of our property taxes go to our local school district. That is A LOT of money! Consider spending all that money PLUS what you spend on curriculum, extra-curricular activities, and other related expenses and homeschooling can definitely get pricey. I, for one, would be very happy if educational expenses were tax deductible for homeschoolers. Of course, they aren’t tax deductible and probably never will be. Making these purchases tax deductible would only encourage parents to homeschool and I don’t think that is something the government is going for.

There are plenty of ways to homeschool on the cheap, though. For example, Ambleside Online is a completely free curriculum. You only need to purchase the books that aren’t available at your local library. A lot of times you are able to buy used books as well to save even more money. There are plenty of free or cheap resources out there. You can also get discounts at a lot of different schools if you are a homeschooler. Apple and Dell both offer a discount on their computers and Barnes and Noble and Borders offer a discount on books that will be used in your homeschool.

There are so many other resources out there for free curriculum and ways to save, but I’m probably not the best person to give out advice on homeschooling cheaply, because I just wasn’t born with that frugal bone a lot of other people seem to have. Sure, I love to find stuff on sale, but if it isn’t on sale and it is something that I really want or need then I’ll buy it. I just ordered my History and Language Arts programs the other day and was shocked to realize that I spent $600 on just the two programs. My goal for the year was to spend only $700 total on both children. I still have math and science to order and each of those programs will be total nearly $300. I’ve gone over budget, but I’m okay with that. I am really happy about the programs I’ve chosen and I think they’ll work wonderfully.

Many families homeschool practically for free. Many families spend a lot more money than I do. Homeschooling is such a personalized thing that I really believe anyone can afford to do it.

What I’m trying to say is that homeschooling cheaply CAN be done. Maybe not by me, but by other people. If the cost of homeschooling frightens you just remember that it will only be as expensive as you allow it to be.

by Karly Campbell

Photo graciously provided by pfala, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved