Homeschool Curriculum Deals

(This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosures for more information. I was compensated for my time to write this review, but the opinions expressed are my own honest opinions.)

If you know me at all, you know my middle name is frugal. I was raised that way and I’ll die that way!

Frugal is not the same as cheap, though (in case you didn’t know). Rather, frugal means weighing value against cost. When something provides incredible value, it’s worth paying for!

That’s where really great homeschool curriculum fits, in my opinion. Great education is worth paying for!

And that’s why I blew through my homeschool budget regularly as a new homeschooler.

I could imagine how Latin would benefit my children and I was just positive that excellent math, science and coding skills would assure them of lucrative careers. How could the cost of those benefits be too great?

And then I came to my senses.

Fortunately, there is always someone in the market for homeschool curriculum so it wasn’t too hard to resell my more foolish purchases. Through reselling I learned that I could purchase our curriculum secondhand.

But the biggest change I made was just cutting back and being very selective about what I needed. Learning how to gauge what I needed versus what I wanted.

I left my wallet at home when I attended homeschool conventions, giving me the chance to really think about all of the shiny new textbooks and educational resources that seemed so perfect and full of opportunity. I learned about learning styles and  how to critique curriculum to make sure it would be really useful.

I also learned about several places to find terrific deals in order to stretch our homeschool budget further. 

Many years of our homeschooling, we’ve actually done it mostly FREE. I mean, I have to buy pencils and paper (during the back-to-school sales in August when they’re mere pennies), but I buy zero curriculum.

Can You Homeschool for FREE? Check this out!

How to Get the Most Out of Your Homeschool Budget

The key word here is budget. Do you have a homeschool budget?

It’s hard to stick to a budget or to get the most out of it when you don’t have one. First, you need to set aside a little bit of money each month, even it it’s just $5, then you need to decide how to spend it. That’s all a budget is.

When I began homeschooling our budget was so tight (the hubs and I were fresh out of college and making a pittance) that we honestly couldn’t come up with an extra dollar each month to begin our homeschool fund. So we started our homeschool curriculum fund with a portion of our tax refund.

Next, you need to decide how to spend the money you’ve set aside. Which do you need more: textbooks, supplies, technology or something else entirely? Those first few years I spent every penny on textbooks and curriculum, but I tried to purchase things I could hand down from child to child so I wouldn’t have to buy those same things every year.

After a couple of years, I didn’t need much by way of textbooks or curriculum and was able to divert our meager homeschooling budget toward music lessons, extracurricular classes and experiences. As kids get older, they require more opportunities outside the home, which can be costly. Be sure to plan ahead for those, or else find local co-op’s or opportunities where you can exchange your time and expertise for the classes.

12 Tips for Homeschooling on a Budget

Buy Used Homeschool Curriculum Whenever Possible

When it comes to textbooks and curriculum, I always search for used first. Local thrift stores, used book stores and library sales are great places to start your search for the very best deals. Next, check online used curriculum resources such as Amazon, thriftbooks and AbeBooks.

If you can’t find the curriculum you need used, the next step is to find the best deal on new curriculum. That’s where discounted group buys comes in. Think of these groups as Costco or Sam’s Club, but for homeschool curriculum. A whole bunch of homeschoolers band together to purchase in bulk in order to receive a significant discount.

Find Free Homeschool Resources

If you haven’t yet joined my weekly newsletter you are missing out. I send out free, helpful homeschool resources almost every week. I also team up with other homeschool bloggers and we share each other’s resources. 

My Ultimate List of Free Homeschool Curriculum is full of resources you can use, completely free, organized by subject.  YouTube has videos to supplement just about any homeschool subject, completely free tutorials and classes, and Pinterest is full of unit studies for every subject you can imagine. And here’s another great list of free homeschool curriculum from a homeschooling friend.

You can even take fun, educational field trips for free, if you know where to look!

25 FREE Field Trip Ideas for Homeschoolers

Another incredible way to save money is by making your own, DIY Math Manipulative kit.

Resources for Great Deals on Your Homeschool Curriculum

You’ll find lots of smaller group buys within Facebook groups and local homeschool groups, but my absolute favorite place to find the best deals on homeschool curriculum is through the Homeschool Buyers Co-Op! I love that I can shop from just one site and trust that I often get the very best deals available. I have found better deals elsewhere on occasion, so be sure to search the curriculum title in your browser before purchasing, just to double check.

I’m super duper excited to tell you about the amazing homeschool curriculum deals at the Co-op!

I’ve been using Homeschool Buyers Co-Op since I discovered it probably about ten years ago. Their website has been recently re-configured so that it’s much more intuitive and user friendly. In the past, it was a little hard to find things, but now the home page is organized by subject and much easier to navigate.

The menu bar across the top will take you to their free resources, last call items (group buys about to close) and shop, which is organized in several different ways to make resources easy to find. Resources available through the Co-op change often, so if you don’t see what you want right now, or if a group buy you wanted to take advantage of has just ended, keep checking back.

The co-op frequently offers group buys where the amount of the discount increases as the number of purchasers increases.  Some examples of current products being offered at seriously amazing prices are ABC Mouse, Math Mammoth, Virtua, Rosetta Stone, Magic School Bus, Learning Wrap-Ups, Thinkwell and RightStart Math.

In the past I’ve found incredible discounts on Saxon Math, Story of the World, and even fun, science subscriptions like Mel Chemistry. In fact, I pretty much never pay full price for anything because I always try to find it used first and if I can’t find it used, I check the Co-op for a group purchase or member discount.

But don’t take my word for it! A membership to the Homeschool Buyers Co-Op is completely free, so you should definitely check it out and see whether it would benefit your family.

Get your free membership to the Homeschool Buyers Co-Op!

Get my free membership!

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