How to Homeschool for a Year for Under $20

My homeschooling budget is small.  Seriously- small.  I do my very best to keep my yearly costs under $25.  Say what?!?  Trust me- it can be done and I'm going to tell you how.

So what do we use exactly?

Just $6.99!!

I love these Scholastic grade level workbooks.  I buy them at Costco, which is just a large discount warehouse store.  The best time of year to look for these is late summer, well before Fall and the start of the new school year.  Price is $6.99- which is just awesome for the budget minded Momma's like myself!

I am also a huge fan of the website Education.com.  This is my go-to website for science experiments, fun crafts and great holiday themed activities.  You can pay for workbooks and worksheets on this site but they also offer a limited amount of free pages per month per email address.  So really- why pay for something you can get for free?!?  I have 3 email address', so you better believe I signed up with all 3!  And to increase my cost savings, I print the pages at my local library for free.  That's free + free = FREE!!!!

My son attends Edmonds Heights K-12 and they have amazing classes like Paragraph Writing, Math, Spanish, Latin, Science, Lego Engineering and more, all taught by certified teachers.  These classes are free. Yippee!!  They also have workshop classes and for an additional fee, a student can take fun classes like Musical Theater, Martial Arts, Sewing, Pottery, Jewelry Making and more!  It's a very valuable tool in our homeschooling journey.

We are also regulars at our local library.  Did you know that you can put books, movies and magazines on hold online and then pick up at your local library?  Since our library is super small, this is how I get all of our books and such.  We are lucky that our library system is pretty large so we have access to new release DVD's and a huge variety of books for all ages.  In the summer time, we also participate in the weekly Summer Reading program.  Lots of fun activities, stories and crafts- all for free!  My library also does NOT charge late fees.  WHAT!?!?!!  I know...I know....calm down Homeschooling Momma's, I know it's super exciting but let's not freak out now!

Still with me there?  That's free classes taught by certified teachers, workshop classes, free books, free DVD's, free magazine, workbooks and free science experiments and arts and craft projects.  Now let's add in sports and PE.

William participates in soccer through a local club.  We are able to get a discounted price so the registration/participation fee is just $10.  Each year I sell his old cleats on Ebay and use the money to buy new cleats.  This means, I spend nothing on cleats.  Nothing!  He's also able to wear the same uniform for 2 years in a row.  My tip here is to buy it a little big the first year and hopefully it will still fit for the 2nd year.  That's a $40-100 savings!  Sweet!

Last year William took Martial Arts classes through his homeschool program.  His school budget money paid for the classes which was $350 for the year.  Keeping score?  A $350 dollar value and all for free!

William also does swimming lessons.  Last year he went to the local YMCA which offers a Swim and Gym class just for homeschoolers.  The class consists of 1 hour of gym class and then 1 hour of swimming and meets once per week.  The fee is $125 per session however my local YMCA royally screwed up and I ended up getting the whole class for free.  Let's just say it was a huge mess....but William really enjoyed the class so we saw it through until the end of the school year.  However, this year- William qualifies for FREE swimming lessons.  There was a grant provided to the school district where he does his homeschool program and all 3rd graders get 3 free sessions.  This will give him free lessons until the end of the school year. I'll take it!

Imagine Children's Museum

Occasionally we like to take field trips and I try to pay as little as possible for these.  I have learned that most  museums offer a free night at least once per month.  I have several in my area that offer free admittance- Museum of Flight, Bellevue Arts Museum and Imagine Children's Museum just to name a few.  I highly recommend you look into this!  You are of course at the mercy of their schedule but hey- free is free! I also regularly check out websites like Amazon Local, Groupon and Living Social to find great deals on other educational and fun places to visit.

This year I was also able to use some of William's school budget money to buy a science kit and some great new workbooks.  My out of pocket expense was zero!

Here's a recap:

• Yearly workbook------------------------------------------------------ $6.99
• Science experiments ----------------------------------------------------FREE
• Arts & Craft projects--------------------------------------------------- FREE
• Musical Theater, Martial Arts, Jewelry classes & more------------------ FREE
• Foreign Language classes----------------------------------------------- FREE
• Math, Science, Language Arts classes -----------------------------------FREE
• Books, DVD's & Magazines --------------------------------------------FREE
• Soccer----------------------------------------------------------------- $10
• Swim Lessons ----------------------------------------------------------FREE
• Museum Field Trips----------------------------------------------------- FREE

Grand Total: $16.99

Not included in this cost is school supplies, supplies for science experiments and those for art and crafts projects.  But lets be honest- we homeschool.  I don't have a ridiculously long list of required unnecessary school supplies.  It's paper, pencils, erasers, markers, crayons, glue, etc.  My wonderful family routinely gifts William with all of these items for birthdays and holidays.  Want to know what to get my child for Christmas?  School supplies!

So there you have it.  A full year of homeschooling for under $20.  Lots of great activities, curriculum and classes.  If I can do it, so you can you!

Do You Have a Freezer Stockpile?

I've said it before and I'll say it again- I believe in being prepared.

That's why I like to keep my freezer well stocked with easy meals made from healthy foods.  If you've read my blog before, you know that I like to cook whole foods, mainly vegetarian and organic foods from scratch.  I keep the processed foods to a minimum.

The easiest way that I've found to build up my freezer stockpile is to simply make a double batch of a meal as you're cooking it.  I do this with just about everything- provided I have enough ingredients on hand.  This assumes you are keeping a well stocked fridge and pantry.  Sometimes you make a meal last minute and simply don't have enough ingredients on hand to make a double batch- don't worry about it!  There will be plenty of chances to double up later!

Handy Chart for Freezing Meat

Here's a list of some of my favorite meals to stockpile-

• Meat & Bean Chili
• Lentil Chili
• Black Bean Chili
• Black Bean & Cilantro Quinoa
• Macaroni and Cheese
• Cheese Enchiladas
• Chicken Tortilla Soup
• Black Bean Soup
• Baked Potato Soup
• Chicken Noodle Soup & other veggie based soups
• Vegetarian Burgers
• Beef Burgers *not cooked
• Spaghetti Sauce
• Lasagna
• Twice Baked Potato Casserole
• Meatloaf *not cooked
• Meatballs *not cooked
• Muffins
• No Yeast Breads like Zucchini & Pumpkin
• Cookie Dough *not baked
• Pie Crusts *not baked

I will also cook up a roast or whole chicken (very rarely) and then make broth with the bones and save the meat to add into other meals.  The cooked meat is then easy to thaw & throw into soups, chilis etc.  One five pound whole chicken will provide a full chicken dinner for my family, up to 3 additional meals where chicken is added (soups, stews, enchiladas etc) and not the main course, a gallon of chicken broth and scraps to feed my dogs for two meals.  I use every single part of that chicken!

I also freeze yogurt, cheese, berries, chocolate chips, fresh fruit, nuts, deli meat, packaged hot dogs and more!  Just about anything can be frozen.  So stock up when your favorite items are on sale and pop it in the freezer!

I use foil pans like this one for freezing casseroles, enchiladas, lasagnas etc.  For soups, I cool in the fridge and then put it in a large ziploc bag the next day.  Don't forget to label it with a sharpie with the name of the recipe and the date you made it!  For meats that I don't cook- I will make a double batch and bake one that day then put the other half in a labeled ziploc bag.  For burgers, meatballs and cookie dough, I flash freeze then stick in a ziploc bag.  Super easy!

This is a simple way for you to save money- you won't eat out as much and for you to feed your family healthy meals!  For a busy wife and mother- it's guaranteed to make your life much easier!

Keeping an Organized Pantry

Keeping a neat and tidy home should be the goal for all Wives.

Something that is essential to me in the keeping of my own home is making sure my kitchen and pantry are organized.  I spend a ton of time cooking and laboring over homemade meals- I need to be able to find shit!  And let's face it- keeping an organized pantry saves you time and money.  Plain and simple.

I'm the first to admit that my pantry isn't fabulous but it works.  I am also battling a super small 1980's kitchen.  Did these people NOT eat?!?  Why so little storage space?  So my solution was to buy a pantry and stick it in my living room.  Ugh....I know...I know...

My Spice Drawer

Even with my extra pantry, which is really just a cabinet with 3 shelves, I still don't have enough room.  So I keep all my baking supplies in one cupboard in my kitchen and my spices go in a drawer near my oven where I can reach them easily while cooking.  As you can tell from the photo the left- it's a bit of a mess.  Is that a cell phone charger in there?!?  Chapstick?  Cash?!?

The goal to keeping an organized pantry is to have your items visible and easily accessible.  I also suggest stocking up when things are on sale and rotating your items so nothing expires.  This ensures you will always get a good price and always have that item available in your home.

My Pantry

Here's a peak at my pantry.  Full disclosure- I did NOT organize it before taking a photo.  It always looks this way- organized chaos I like to call it. Unless of course my son has been "helping" me unload groceries.  In that case, it's a mess.

You can see that my cans are lined up, forward facing by item.  This allows me to know when I'm running low on something.  Which BTW- see that empty space between the Pinto Beans & Black Beans?  That's where my Kidney Beans should go.  I totally ran out and the store I usually buy my organic Kidney Beans at has not had them in stock during my last 2 visits.  Oops!

I keep items that are currently being used towards the front of the pantry and simply place the extras behind them.  For example, the cereal boxes & crackers on the top left are lined up with the name of the item facing forward.  The unopened extra boxes are directly behind it.  So when we finish the item, I toss it and move the one behind up to the front.  Then I put that item on my grocery list so I can by a replacement & restock.  Make sense?

The Box

Sometimes I find a really good sale.  Like on the Cascadian Farms Purely O's cereal.  We don't usually have so many of them but I found them on sale for $.99 per box.  That's a savings of over $3!!!!  So you better believe I bought as many boxes as I could!  The additional extras were then placed at the bottom of my cabinet pantry, usually behind the cardboard box.  This is where I store all my items that I have stocked up on.

Keeping yourself organized does not have to cost you a buttload of money.  There is NO reason for you to

The Snack Basket

run out and buy fancy boxes, baskets and organizers.  I use a large cardboard box to store my extra plastic wraps, foils, ziploc baggies, extra bags of lentils & barley, extra dog treats, hot chocolate mixes, tea bags and yes, even my coffee filters.  I also have an old basket that I pulled the broken handle off of and I keep my snack foods in here.

Potatoes, extra paper napkins, larger sized items and my recipe book all go down on the bottom shelf on the right.

The big green bowl belongs to my son- he puts his candy from Christmas, Easter & Halloween in here.  There's also a package of Oreo's that he got after a soccer game & a can of Pringles in there.  Yuck!  This is his treat bowl.  I bought it on clearance after Halloween many, many years ago and it works great!  When he has earned a reward or treat, he's allowed to pick something out of this bowl.  And if I'm honest- most times after a meal he can grab a small piece of candy.  Don't tell him- but every month or so, I weed through his bowl and throw stuff out.  Shhh....

So there you have it.  A glimpse into my somewhat OCD life.  If you don't already have an organized pantry or some system in place- I highly recommend you work on it.  Get creative and use things you see around the house, improvise!  You can do it!