Ways To Save Money On Homeschool Curriculum

While most children are hustling to finish their school year, many homeschool families are already done. This year even me! But then I’m graduating child four and child five has two more years. — but many of the people I know, like my own daughter, who is a homeschool mom.

— But many of the people I know, like my own daughter, who is a homeschool mom schools all year.

Want to save some money? Here you go the Build Your Bundle is going strong.

Want coupon codes now? – They are here.

One of the reasons for the early year-end is because many moms are gearing up to buy next year’s curriculum, or at the very least check out what is available to them. It took me many years to understand this way of thinking. I was a product of the public school system and I imagined summer to be a time of kicking back and relaxing.

Of course homeschool mom love to take a break as well, that is after the planning for next year is done! They are searching for ways to save money on homeschool curriculum, first!

And, in this ever changing economic climate it is important to save money whenever possible. Yes I know there are plenty of free books out there. But really, what are they worth? Many 100+ page free ebooks are not worth the cost of printing them on paper. They are filled with blanks and lines and little else. I can’t say I’ve ever downloaded free curriculum that was really worth it for my family. I know many people love free – and don’t get me wrong, so do I, however I’d rather save money on a good book I want to buy rather than receive something that is useless or worth little for free.

Saving money on curriculum is what this post is all about – and getting some free discounts and coupons along the way.

Here are some ways I highly recommend to save money on homeschool curriculum:

1. Visit a friend’s home and look at their books.

It always helps to see and look through a specific book you may purchase. Sometimes a book sounds wonderful but when you leaf through it you may find that it’s not a good fit for your family.

This can save you precious dollars. Many times various curriculum carry hefty price tags. Taking a look at a book in advance will save you the headache of purchasing and returning, and perhaps paying shipping and restock fees.

2. Borrow or swap books.

This is fine for a book or text book but I don’t recommend it for consumable workbooks. These should be purchased individually for your children, each child. Textbooks are designed to be reused. Workbooks are designed to be consumable.

Perhaps you have a book or two your friend would like, and vice-versa.

There are online curriculum swaps but those I’d be very wary of joining – unless you have a good one, post it here in the comments section.

3. Read Blogs

Save money by doing your research. My favorite reviewer is Cathy Duffy – her blog is here Cathy is a long-time homeschool mom – who has completed her homeschool journey but still reviews books, curriculum and classes for her ever present homeschool audience. She is very balanced in her approach and has some great picks in her 100 Top Picks Books, her 101 Top Picks and her 102 Top Picks.

This will save you money by filtering through some very good curriculum and helping you make great choices. Cathy has been my guest on several podcasts and she is always a joy to have on the air.

4. Publisher Sales

Do you have a favorite publisher? Be sure to get on their email lists. This is a great way to find out first hand if there are any special sales for email clients only. I do this all the time on my Media Angels website. Many of my friends like Bright Ideas Press and Write Shop do as well. This helps us to keep our eZine clients happy as well as promote sales to those loyal enough to stay on our lists. It is like loyalty rewards points all without doing anything.

The nice thing about eZine sign-up are the perks! You often are enticed to sign up to a list because of a great product review or download. For example, on this website you receive a free audio bundle of special seminar sessions that are sold nowhere else, for free when you are part of this list. These bundles help you and are often grouped by topics. And yes – I’m part of many eZine lists because of the great offers and discounts.

5. Bundle Sales

Are there other ways to save money? Of course -and now we come to bundle sales. So there are bundles and then there are b-u-n-d-l-e-s. What do I mean by this?

There are those bundle sales that have so many products it gives you a headache just to read what you get and the price is so ridiculously low it is silly not to buy the set. Raise your hand if you have purchased one of these sets? Me, too. And what did I find? Similar to the freebies I mentioned above most were not worth printing out and using up my paper or toner. And, what a waste of time. It took longer to read through all of the titles and topics, than it would have to hop over to my favorite website and plunk down some money. Okay, maybe twice what I spent on the bundle, but then I purchased what I wanted.

But then there are the bundle sets that make sense, like Build Your Bundle. There are several reason I like this set, one is that I participate in these sets with curriculum – yes, my books. The ones that took me years of research and thousands of dollars in printing and production. And, two – I purchase these bundles because I can select the books I want to buy. This very unique approach to a bundle sale puts the reins in you, the customer’s hands allowing you to obtain quality, name brand curriculum at prices you can afford.
Another reason I’m a fan is because I am familiar with the team who puts these bundles together and they are top notch. They don’t like junk any more than I do, so they are very discriminating when it comes to the books they will allow in these sales events.

And the last reason is the theme of this entire post – you will save money. One of my flagship books is part of this bundle and the entire bundle sells for LESS than my individual book – so yes, you will get a bargain. This book is one that was selected in Cathy Duffy’s 100 and 101 Top Homeschool Curriculum Picks. So you get the idea – quality and value.

In addition, you may recognize some of the publisher names such as my company, Media Angels and my good friends, Kim Kautzer of WriteShop and Linda Hobar with Mystery of History and Maggie Hoagan with Bright Ideas Press. Like I said, quality curriculum.

I’m excited to be a sponsor as well as an affiliate – and I hope you enjoy this sale as much as I will. Do you have any other great ways to save money on curriculum? Share them with us.