Older clothes work fine for the home setting, where more stylish (and expensive) clothes are desired for school. It is far cheaper to make lunch at home than to buy a school lunch every day, and that money can add up to a significant amount that can be used for homeschool resources. There are no book fees to pay to a school so that money can also go into your homeschool fund. School fundraisers are avoided and the money spent on them goes in the pot as well. By the time you add up all of the school expenses that you have saved, you might be surprised to find that homeschooling isn't as expensive an alternative as you thought it would be! It is entirely possible to successfully homeschool without spending a fortune, and below are some great resources to add to your budget homeschooling toolbox.
Don't overlook our subscriber exclusive resources on TheHomeSchoolMom. You won’t find these resources available for sale anywhere – we have created these quality workbooks and unit studies exclusively for our newsletter subscribers, who can access them at no cost. From our financial workbooks for teens to our notebooking units for middle grades, you can’t buy these exclusive resources, but we will give them to you when you subscribe to TheHomeSchoolMom newsletter.
Don't forget to access our free spreadsheet planner, Homeschool Planner Plus.
Homeschooling on a Budget Blog Posts
Ask Jeanne: Money for Homeschooling My Kids?
Boost Your Homeschool Budget With These Common Yard Sale Finds
Where to Find Free Audiobooks for Homeschooling
LibriVox Free Audiobooks for Homeschooling
Homegrown Riches: The Economic Challenges of Homeschooling
Homegrown Riches: The Economic Challenges of Homeschooling {Part 2}
How Our Family Is Homeschooling For (Nearly!) Free This Year
Homeschool Supplies
Try These Ideas Instead of Curriculum »
Sites with Extensive Free Curricula
- Easy Peasy All in One Homeschool
A complete, free online Christian homeschool program for Preschool - 8th grade that was designed by a mom for her own kids - Easy Peasy All in One High School
From the creator of Easy Peasy for Preschool - 8th grade, the high school site is set up similar to the lower school, except that there are no levels - Ambleside Online
A complete, free online Charlotte Mason styled homeschool program with a corresponding discussion forum - Khan Academy
Khan Academy now contains over 4200 free videos for K-12 in mostly math and science topics; some videos reach into the humanities with playlists on finance and history. Each video is a digestible chunk, approximately 10 minutes long, and especially purposed for viewing on the computer. Playlists are available to help progress through a topic in a logical manner. - An Old Fashioned Education
A portal site for out of copyright resources linked by subject - Enchanted Learning
Over 35,000 web pages of free printables for younger students (a small optional annual fee removed the advertising banners and supports the site) - Crash Course
Engaging video courses (from John Green and his brother Hank) designed to be review courses for AP exams; topics available are US History, Chemistry, World History, Biology, Literature, and Ecology.
- Alison
Alison offers free courses on a variety of topics. All content is free, with the site funded by optional purchases of certificates and/or diplomas. Groups of courses are organized into Learning Paths, which allow students to work their way through a logical progression of course material.
Saving on Homeschool Curriculum
- Used Curriculum Resources
Our list of popular sources for used curriculum - Homeschool Buyers Co-op
(Affiliate/referral link) HBC negotiates excellent deals with curriculum and resource providers based on quantity purchases.
Affordable or Free Online Resources
- Superteacherworksheets.com
Printables and a spelling curriculum for younger students for a small annual fee - Math Worksheet Site
Free worksheet generator - Ed-Helper
Extensive site with resources for a reasonable annual fee - Math-U-See Free Resources
Drills, worksheet generator, and webinars - Starfall
Free online reading/phonics program - DonnaYoung.org
Extensive collection of carefully designed printable forms and resources - Clever Dragons and Always Icecream
Although these sites want to separate the interests of boys and girls along gender roles, the sites are good quality learning games for younger students and could be be useful if your child enjoys the themes. - Homeschool Share
Unit study printables - Education World
Free online printables - Learning Page
Free online printables - FunBrain
Free online learning games
Hello Jeanne
I live in Middle East and rarely they use homeschool way if you can help me find the write school for short term homeschool if my financial got better by next year i would put my son again in public school but i need now affordable accredited homeschool that can give me a notarized grades report after this tear finish please help me to find To register my grade 8 son. Thank you
Hi Raeda - We don't offer recommendations for specific curriculum providers or schools, but we have a large curriculum review section that will give you insight into what other homeschoolers think of various online schools and curriculum providers. I hope this helps.
Thank you
You're welcome, Karin. Happy homeschooling!