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You Spent How Much on That?

At this time of year you might be trying to pay off credit card bills for the curriculum you bought at the summer conventions. Or you might be stretched because you somehow eeked it out of your grocery money or your date-night budget and have been spreading everything a little thinly for a few months. I’ve been there.

We roughly spend $500 a year to school our boys at home. Roughly. Special needs usually require that we spend a little more. For instance, our son’s dyslexia necessitated that I buy an Orton-Gillingham based curriculum and our oldest son’s aversion to writing was best aided by a pricey IEW program. These curriculums were thoroughly researched and, in the end, were both money well spent. However, when I actually wrote the checks out to pay for them I gasped a little.

Curriculum and other school supplies are a necessary line-item in the homeschooler’s budget. Homeschooling your kids for free is a nice idea but the majority of us put some hard earned cash into this lifestyle — often squeezing it out of the single income we live on. Spending money on school is a natural effect of our decision to homeschool so you can’t avoid it.

In our 17 years of marriage and 10 years of homeschooling, we’ve discovered a few keys to successfully manage these money matters:

Here’s what works:

Get an accurate picture of what you make and where your money goes. At my bank’s website I can set up my account to show pie charts of what I spend where. Since I use my debit card for nearly everything, this tool works well for me. You can also try out a website like www.youneedabudget.com/ to keep real track of your income and spending. Make adjustments where you can, but don’t leave your homeschooling budget for last. It may be flexible but it’s essential.

Designate who will manage your finances on paper and trust that person to do it. My husband sacrifices many things to provide for our family. Once his paycheck comes home, I attempt to allocate those funds as responsibly as I can. He trusts me to do this: to pay bills on time, to take care of the kid’s needs, to not squander money, to not overspend and to keep him abreast of where we’re at. Because he trusts me, I don’t buy curriculum impulsively and he isn’t looking over my shoulder questioning the state of affairs.

Pay off debt very quickly and then avoid it. Pay cash for this stuff as much as you can. I have had to be somewhat creative in finding money for curriculum from reselling gently used curriculum to babysitting a child to earn money. But it gave me cash in hand and if that’s the money God provided, maybe it’s not his plan for me to buy the uber-expensive curriculum package. In my opinion, cash in my hand is God’s provision for my needs. Using credit is really me telling God what his provision should have been

Here’s what doesn’t work:

Trying to keep up with the level of wealth of your friends and family.
Feeling entitled to nice things, vacations, the perfect school room, etc.
Being comfortable paying the minimum balance on your credit card.
Using your credit card for non-emergencies.
Insert your own money-related failure here ___________.

If you feel like money tensions are moving into your marriage, take some time to ask each other some questions and see if you can’t at least come to a new understanding of how homeschooling really does and should affect your finances. Here are a few questions to consider:

How did your family of origin view money? How do you think that’s different from how your spouse’s family viewed money? How are your priorities different from the family you grew up in?
Regarding saving money: list for each other why you think you should save (emergencies only, major purchases, security, etc.). See if you come up with the same reasons. If they’re different, reprioritize the list together.
Regarding spending: What is the dollar amount over your budget that you can feel comfortable spending without having to consult with your spouse? This is a trust building area so you need to agree on this amount. It might be different for every line item in the budget.
On a 1-10 scale: How much tension do you each think money puts on your marriage relationship? How can you agree to relieve that tension? (Reorganize your budget, communicate about bills in a different way, cut back on cars, phone plans, etc., )
Where does giving to church or other charities rank in your monthly budget? Are you comfortable with your level of giving to these places or people?
What are your expectations about how your money practices will change as the children grow? (curricula, activities, college, insurance, etc.) Do you need to put changes in place now to afford later expenses for your children’s education? Decide together how much.

Interestingly enough, money management tools for homeschoolers are really no different than they are for anyone else: Spend less than you bring in. Save wisely. Avoid debt. Talk about financial practices with your spouse. Let financial freedom be as liberating as your freedom to homeschool.

Debra Anderson has three sons ages 11 and younger. Her passions are education, mentoring, her husband, writing, church ministry and missional living — not in that order. She has her seminary Masters degree in Christian Education, is married to her pastor-husband of 16 years, and resides in their newish home in Denver, CO. In spite of moves between four different states, she has always home educated her boys — even on the hard days. She maintains a blog at www.emergent-homeschool.blogspot.com.