Homeschooling can get to be expensive if you think you need the most highly regarded curriculum or if you think you need tons of books and resources. When you exchange your time for money you can begin to get many books and resources for free that will aid you in your homeschool journey.

You can homeschool for free or almost free if you follow these basic principles:

1. Use free resources - Obviously your local public library will give you the most free resources. With many libraries changing over to the computerized inter library loan system, you can find and receive many books you need even easier than before. I can request something online and have it delivered to my local library down the street in a matter of days. Unless you need a book for more than a month, this system works very well. The internet can provide you with many free worksheets, ideas and resources that can help you avoid purchasing many workbooks and textbooks. Check my bio at the bottom for a complete book that can help you find all the free resources you need for home schooling online.

2. Buy used curriculum - You can find used books and curriculum online or at thrift and garage sales. It will take you a little more time than just buying the books new, but if you want to save money you will need to spend a little time doing it. Ebay tends to be expensive for the buyer but you can sometimes find deals. Homeschoolclassifieds has a very nice searchable database where people can search the "for sale" listings for what they need.

3. Sell used curriculum- Once you are finished with a book or curriculum, you can sell that item and use the profit to buy the next item you need. You'll need to do your research here though. Just because people make money on eBay doesn't mean everything you list will sell. Search the completed listings for the item you want to sell and see how whether it sold and for how much. Also make sure you describe the item correctly and research how to describe it to attract the most buyers. Homeschoolclassifieds is a great place to list items because the cost is very low. Your item may not sell right away but at least it doesn't cost much to have it listed there. If you look up the ISBN number on half.com you can see if your book is worth anything there. That site is not an auction site, so you just wait for a buyer to come and purchase your book. I have had good results there though.

4. Make up your own material - Some children enjoy creating their own books. You can read articles online or get books from the library that can help you get your children started creating their own books. Sometimes they can learn more from developing the ideas in their book than they can from reading a textbook. Their book can have a theme or subject and then everything in the book can relate to that topic. They can take notes on what they have read or write their own stories. Or you can collect free worksheets and unit study ideas online and create your own information for your child to complete.

You can home school for free or almost free, but you will need to be willing to do some work buy shopping and reading and searching online to find what you want to put together. When you purchase resources that are used for a fraction of the cost you pay new, it can be very rewarding. Then you might have extra money in your budget to take a field trip or two.