How to Afford Homeschooling

One of the questions I get asked all the time is, “How can you afford to homeschool?” So many people want to homeschool, but they don’t feel like they can afford to leave their full-time job in order to do it. I get it – life is expensive and it can be a huge change to go from two incomes to one, for one parent to stay home and homeschool the kids. So if you want to know how to afford homeschooling, read on for some helpful tips!

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How to afford homeschooling:

This list here is not exhaustive – there are many ways to make homeschooling for affordable and possible for your family! But I think these are the best place to start.

Find a way to make it work

The thing that most people don’t want to hear is that if you want to make homeschooling work, you can probably find a way.

If you needed to replace your water heater, and you didn’t have money in your budget, you’d figure out a way to replace it. Maybe you’d scrimp and save, you’d find a great deal, you’d make payments, or you’d barter to get it installed.

If it was your dream to take a trip to Europe with your family, you’d plan and save for it, skip dinners out, and find a way to make it happen.

The same thing is true of homeschooling – if this is really something you feel called to do, you feel is the best educational choice, or that you think is necessary for your family, you can find a way to make it happen.

This might mean that you need to drastically change your lifestyle. If you are going down from two incomes to one, you might need to cut expenses, sell a car, or even downsize. Do you have to do all those things? Maybe not! But if homeschooling is the best choice for your family, what would you be willing to do to make it work?

Be frugal

Since homeschoolers generally don’t get any money from the state to pay for homeschool supplies, parents are responsible for any costs. So be frugal when it comes to homeschool supplies!

Don’t purchase expensive curriculum. Buy used items on Facebook marketplace, use free curricula options, or use books as your curriculum and get them free at the library.

You can also be very frugal in your home, not just your homeschool. Here are some posts that will give you some great tips on saving money:

Work on a flexible schedule

Because homeschooling doesn’t require your kids to be schooling from 9-3 Monday through Friday, you can be flexible with your work schedule.

• Do you have a grandparent who can keep the kids one day a week, so you can work all day? Or in the afternoons?
• Is your spouse able to keep the kids in the evenings while you go to work?
• Can you work a remote job from home while your kids do some online class options?

Take advantage of the flexible schedule that homeschooling provides, and work around it.

Bring in an extra income

Whether you just need a few hundred dollars or a full time income, bringing in money from home is totally possible!  In the almost 16 years I’ve been a SAHM and now as a homeschooling mom, I’ve done a lot of things to make money from home, and now I make a full time income while working super part time.

You don’t have to work full time hours or send your kids away in order to make money from home. Even with a job that isn’t traditional! I’ve never worked a “typical” remote job from home – and you don’t have to either.

There are so many ways that you can make money from home. Download the free PDF below for some ideas:

If you need more help figuring out how to make money from home while homeschooling your kids, I’ve created the Homemaker’s Income Maker course just for moms like you. Moms who want to homeschool but don’t think they can afford it or are already homeschooling, but need to bring in extra income.

Do you have any more tips for how to afford homeschooling? Drop them in the comments!

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