Friday, August 3, 2012

Five Ways to Save Money on Homeschool Curriculum


It's Back to School Season and for us that means selecting and purchasing Homeschool Curriculum You can see our curriculum choices for this year here or last year here.  This can be very expensive so today I am going to share 5 ways that we save money on Homeschool Curriculum.



1.  Use the library! 

We read 40-50 books each school year and so if we purchased all of those books it would quickly add up to a lot of money!  We use the library for most of the books that we read and if we have some favorite books that we really enjoyed, we will purchase them to add to our personal library.  The library is also a great resource for educational videos and even some textbooks.  Our library even has some of the Apologia Science books and other homeschool resources.


2.  Shop at Used Curriculum Sales.

This year, I purchased most of our curriculum at a used curriculum sale and saved over $500 by doing this!  I still have a few more items to purchase but I am hoping to find them at a used curriculum sale this weekend in Independence, MO.

I look for Teacher Guides at the used curriculum sales because they are not consumable items.  This year I purchased the BJU English 3 Teacher Guide for $10 (retail price $57.78), Horizons Math 4 Teacher Guide for $8 (retail price $49.95), A Beka Pilgrim's Progress Teacher Guide for $1.00 (retail price $21.00) and much more!


3.  Shop at Homeschool Convention Curriculum Fairs.

Most Homeshcool Conventions also have a very large Curriculum Fair.  This is a great time for hands-on curriculum shopping.  Most of the companies will also have deals, coupons, sales & no shipping charges.  I like to use the Curriculum Fair to purchase consumable workbooks and then search for the Teacher Guides at used curriculum sales.


4.  Share and/or Trade with Friends & Family.

Ask other homeshool families if they would be willing to share, trade or sell curriculum that they are no longer using, especially teacher guides.  Teacher guides are one of the more expensive items to purchase and if you can't find them at a used curriculum sale, ask a friend if you can borrow, trade or buy theirs.


5.  Shop at Thrift Stores.

Last year I realized that we really needed a good dictionary and a thesaurus.  These can be very expensive to purchase new so I started hunting at Thrift Stores.  I found the ones pictured above at a thirft store for $1.00 each (retail prices are between $60-$80)!!


I have also found a lot of readers at thrift stores and most of them were $1 or less.  If our library does not have a book on our reading list or I want a book for our personal library,  I start hunting at thrift stores.  This does take some time and effort but the savings are worth the extra effort!


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2 comments:

  1. Thanks for these helpful tips! I'm just about to start preschool at home with my oldest and am going to search the thrift store for some good books. I found you through Life as Mom's link up.

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  2. Thanks for stopping by Beach Mom! Thrift Stores are a great place to find lots of preschool books, games & manipulatives. I purchased all of our preschool books & curriculum at thrift stores & garage sales.

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