Even if you unschool, you look for creative ways to teach your child at home. Once you figure out exactly what you want you sit down with your calculator and add it all up.  Sticker shock!  You never realized homeschooling would be so expensive.

One thing I learned quickly when I began to homeschool was how to be even more frugal than I already was. Anyone who knows me knows that I can do amazing things with ten dollars. It's just how my mind works. But when you're a homeschooling you are likely a one income family with about two to four small children. And now you have to stretch the budget are enough to include school books for those children.

What are some creative ways to save money when you're homeschooling? Some of it will depend on where you live. We live in an area where we can have a large garden and a few chickens. We call ourselves accidental farmers. I can promise you when I was studying international relations at the honors college and considering work in Washington DC, I never dreamt that in 10 years I would be building a chicken coop and canning beans. What I learned, however, is that self-sufficiency is actually fun and fosters creativity.

But what if you live in the city, how can you pinch pennies there? One of the first way is you can begin to save money is cutting back on pizza delivery and running to a fast food restaurant. When I moved out of the city to the country I was amazed at how much my food budget went down simply because no one would drive out to my house to deliver pizza. Cooking large portions from scratch and then freezing half not only makes food healthier, but it reduces your food budget.

Include your children and it becomes a lesson in home economics.
Of course buying clothes secondhand is also a great way to save money. I would encourage you to do what we did, learn together as a family how to save money, without depriving ourselves, so that not only would you be living the frugally, but your children will learn valuable lessons that they can use as adults.

See our additional resources below.  We update them regularly, so add yours by contacting us.
Countryside & Small Stock Journal  features reader-written personal experiences and photos straight out of family albums, making each issue just like a long letter from friends who are living the good life, beyond the sidewalks.
Financial Peace University is a life-changing program that teaches you how to make the right decisions with your money. You'll be empowered with the practical skills and confidence needed to achieve your financial goals and experience true financial peace. It has great curriculum for teaching homeschoolers.
Kitchen Specialties & Granary is a site where you will find some of the best values in products for healthy living we have been able to find. We not only sell these products, we use them ourselves to reduce our food bills and improve the quality of life for our family.
Living on a Dime's goal is to educate people about better ways to handle money in the hope that the people they touch can live more fulfilled and less stressful lives. Their story is not just for people who live on very small incomes. Instead, they hope that sharing their story of money scarcity and how they dealt with it will help people more wisely manage their resources and become financially strong.
Homeschool-portal  Shows willing homeschool parents great ideas how to create their own curriculum instead of purchasing "packaged" curriculum. They also explain how this eclectic curriculum can benefit your child while incorporating their own unique learning style.

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