As a homeschool mom, I can attest to the fact that there are so many amazing products out there to use in a homeschool setting. As a homeschool mom of many on a limited income, I can also attest to the fact that those beautiful supplies can easily add up to spending an obscene amount of money- something that I’m neither willing, nor able, to partake in.
Being a frugal homeschool mom can take a bit of cleverness, resourcefulness, and planning, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t have our must-have tools we just can’t live without! Today I’m going to share with you ten money-saving resources that are not only handy to have for a well-run homeschool, but they save money (and sanity) to boot!
10 Money-Saving Homeschool Tools
1. Coffee
I’m only half-joking here. To me, coffee is my way of relaxing and preparing my mind for a busy day. Better to have a mom who’s had time to savor a quiet morning than a cranky one to begin the homeschool day with!
2. A library card
My library card is the most-used resource we have. The vast majority of our books and DVDs come from the library, in addition to the abundance of workshops and events available there for cardholders. I love the library!
3. Netflix
Since we don’t have cable, we use Netflix every single day. From “The Magic School Bus” to WWII documentaries, so much of our learning comes from the enormous amount of programming offered through Netflix Streaming.
4. A printer
Although a printer may cost some money at the outset, in the end, it saves so much money if you either have a large number of children or use a hefty number of printables. As much as I may bristle at having to buy ink every couple of months, it sure beats having to pay for all of our photocopies at Staples!
5. An electric pencil sharpener
If there ever was a time and sanity saver, this is it. Our electric pencil sharpener just broke a few weeks ago after being dropped on the floor for about the 100th time, and I am going crazy without one! It is so not fun having to sharpen pencils using cheap dollar store sharpeners that either don’t work from the very beginning, or stop working after the 4th or 5th use. Trust me. Buy an electric pencil sharpener. You won’t be sorry.
6. Spiral notebooks
We use spiral notebooks for just about everything in our homeschool. They are perfect to use as:
- lesson plan books
- daily logs
- journals
- subject notebooks
- book lists
- checklists
- prayer journals
- notebooking
We usually get a bunch of them at the beginning of the school year when they can be found for between 10¢ and 17¢ per book.
7. Dollar Tree 3-ring binders
As with the spiral notebooks, I usually buy a lot of these at one time. They’re perfect for notebooking, which we do a lot of, and for older kids to keep track of all of their papers.
8. Dollar Tree baskets
These baskets come in an array of colors and can be used to organize supplies, workbooks, and art supplies. Since they’re only $1, they’re also perfect for each child to have their own individual basket for their own supplies, and, since they’re so cheap, even if they break after awhile, they’re extremely inexpensive to replace.
9. A whiteboard
This is another one of those things that is just indispensible here. I use our whiteboard to write our copywork verses, any notes that need to be copied during our lessons, and my kids really enjoy using it for math problems when they’re having a difficult math day.
10. YouTube
As with Netflix, YouTube contains an invaluable plethora of information. Last week alone, my 16-year-old watched videos on three Greek scientists and one on eclipses. While this website does need to be used with parental supervision, it’s certainly worth the trouble!
If you’re looking for more ideas on handy homeschool tools, be sure to visit iHomeschoolNetwork.com!
I love the library! I recently discovered ours added a whole bunch of The Great Courses (through hoopla) and we can’t wait to use them. Some of my kids are using the Chess course and others want to use the foreign language courses. My oldest really enjoyed Greek history and Anatomy by them years ago. The teachers have all been amazing.
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Wow! Your library sounds like it has a great website. 🙂
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Hello Coffee! A absolute must! 🙂 Thanks for this list.
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It was #1 because it’s near and dear to my heart!
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Seriously, how did we survive before the internet and video streaming?
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I’m sometimes amazed by how effective a simple notebook can be in our homeschool. We use them for everything!
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How can something so inexpensive be so adaptable?! I love them!
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I don’t drink coffee, so I’d probably list the library as #1! And we don’t have tv, either, but so far, we’ve been able to find every single thing we wanted to watch online for free – even my husband’s Miami sports games! (The only almost-exceptions were when I wanted to watch the new Gilmore Girls and it was only on Netflix, but I was able to do a free month and see that, then I’ll do a free month of hulu to see Bringing Up Bates when the season ends and I can binge-watch it.)
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I never knew you could get a free month of hulu!
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Shelly, I love those 70 pg notebooks!! I wait for the back to school sales too, and pounce!! I usually buy 20 at the time! Now that PP is “Writing” and drawing, I’m gonna need triple that!!
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They’re so versatile, aren’t they?
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Oh yes!
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Hi Shelly – do you do the refillable ink cartridges? They are way, way cheaper than replacing the actual cartridge every time. Messy but worth it.
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I have been planning on looking into that. Thanks for the reminder!
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Inkowl is a great company. We go through a ton of ink and toner with multiple printers for work, homeschool and church and they save us so much money it is silly.
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Thanks for the info!
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I love it! These are really practical ways to save money.
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Saving money is one of my favorite pastimes!
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OH yes! We are at our library a few times a week. We also invested in a printer/copier which works wonders for us since.
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I am a frugal person myself! I do love spending initially than in parts and hence make investments that do not later cause lots of spending like the printer you have mentioned. Thanks for joining the Bloggers Pit Stop
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Saving money is so important! Great job here Shelly! Thanks so much for linking up at #familyfriday we appreciate it! We hope you come back next week
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I could never homeschool if I didn’t do it frugally!
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Where we live we can’t get unlimited internet easily so Netflix and extensive YouTube is out for us. 😦 We knew that when we moved here and are hopeful that it will be coming to us soon.
We have a weekly library trip and I’m placing things on hold frequently that my husband can pick up on his way home.
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Oh, that must stink!
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