Once you decide to homeschool, you realize that there are costs involved. Especially if you have more than one student, the cost for books rises dramatically. While readers and textbooks can be reused, workbooks and test books should not be.

When shopping for books, fall, even August, often offers lower prices. However, the selection is smaller at that time. Also, shipping can be delayed beyond your opening day of school. Spring offers more selections at homeschool bookstores as well as online places, like eBay. Oh, what choices to make!

If you are choosing brand new items, curriculum printers are competing at this time. Searching the internet, especially social media sites, you can often find sale codes offering 10-50% off. That adds up quickly. Even offers of free shipping can dramatically reduce your spending (or move the spending allowance on other items like science kits!) One example is the Abeka site. Their costs have risen as the demand increased since the pandemic. However, they have a post offering discounts here.

Walmart and other local retailers offer back to school sales in August, which are terrific for the budget. By purchasing books now, one can allow for additional spending in another couple of months. If you visited a homeschool fair across the state, the vendors usually offered discounts for their products, too.

One year, a neighbor had children opposite grades of my children. We swapped books for several years, thus, lowering each of our costs.

In conclusion, while bringing this school year to a close, it is time to plan for the next school year. Decide where you will spend the larger amounts of money, and where you can harness a deal with online sales. Your child does deserve the best. Only you as a parent can decide what is the best for your child.