How Can I Afford to Stay Home and Homeschool
A big apprehension when people are thinking of homescooling is “how can I afford to homeschool?” I assume the concern is not only buying the supplies but most people will assume they cant work.
A saying my husband and I like to say is “choose your hard”. Life is not easy, there are always road bumps with every choice you make, whether it is a good one or bad. Even having children. If we didnt have them our hearts would ache and yearn for children. Having children our hearts ache with love, worry and concern that we are doing right by them. But we must choose.
Homeschooling may solve one worry (your child and their education) but present another (income and working). Before you make this decesion you have to change your mindset. Your making a sacrifice for your child, as you have since the moment they were born and it likely wont be easy, but it is definitely possible amd worth it.
The first three points are ways to stay home almost completely living off of a partners income.
The last three points are ways to make it work while still working.
Budgeting
Please dont skip this one because you think “I already budget”. My biggest financial contribution to my household right now is budgeting and using every dollar as wisely as possible. Its magical how it seems we cant squeeze anything else out of our budget and then a big bill comes unexpectedly and we somehow make it work.
You may be budgeting your partners income or maybe you want to work less so you need to budget your part time income. I encourge you to follow budgeting moms and dads on Instagram or join facebook groups that focus on this or whatever social media your on. I love “Debt Free Mom”. You can visit her website but her Instagram here is gold!. She breaks down everything into small step by step chunks so that people that are new at budgeting can be successful.
When we budget and write down where every dollar is going we can better see where we can make cuts and maybe we don’t have to work or at least work as much. Its probably going to be uncomfortable seeing how much your spending on some things but the choice you’re working toward is worth it.
Homeschool For Free
If you arent worried about working necesarily but are worried about homeschooling adding an added expense there are certainly ways around that. Realisticly homeschooling will not be completely free if you want to provide a customized, well rounded education for your child. though as I point out in the next section time is money nd if your willing to do the leg work you can keep your costs low!
There are completely free curriculum like “The Good and the Beautiful” offers some grade levels free online as well as “Easy Peasy All-In-One homeschool”. There is also online homeschool programs that cost a low monthly fee but have everything included in the program. Programs like “Time4Learning” and “Power Homeschool”.
I also have a post here that wil help you determine how much it will cost for you to homeschool. It also covers way for you to keep costs low.
Your Time IS MONEY!
Time is money. Your time is worth alot! If you choose not to work there is alot of things you can do with your time that you will save money that you woudnt be able to do if you were working. a few things that will save you money that you will have the time to do if your not working are:
- Time to budget
- Cook most meals at home
- Look for deals
- Sell your things online instead of donating everything
- Tend to a vegetable garden
Change Work Schedule
So I know this is an obvious one but we are so used to the 9-5 people forget all the options we have now adays.
Night Shift. I had a job a couple years back that I was so surprised turned out to be gold, schedule wise. I worked the overnight shift, going in at 9 their bedtime and work 6 hours then come home sleep for about 6 hours. The kids would wake up by themself, finish making their breakfast that I set everything out for them, and we would start school mid, late morning. I didn’t work everyday so I was able to rest on my days off.
Alternating schedules if you have a supportive partner is an option. Even if your partner works an odd schedule, you can likely find a job with an alternating odd schedule. An employer that will work with your available hours or even seasonal work that you can save and spread out your earnings over the year.
Remember homeschool can be done literally any time of day or year. In the afternoons, on the weekends, during summertime. Yes some states have homeschool rules that include attendance and/or hourly minimums but none of them enforce time of day or year that schooling has to take place.
Homeschool During the Summer
Public school is covered over a period of 9 months. When homeschooling we can utulize the extra 3 months of summer as we need. That could mean we cover less everyday but throughout the whole year making it even out. Or if you take advantage of seasonal work you could take your “summer vacation” over that time, such as christmas time to work as much as you can and then continue schooling through the summer.
These extra 3 months to play around with can make a big difference.
I hope this post was hlpful. Dont forget to check out what we are doing daily on Instagram