Homeschooling and income

[ikesmom]

I recently quit my job of 3 yrs. for various reasons -schedule, pay, lack of professional environment, ect.... including a possible move to another town closer to the city. We got lucky with a reduction in our house payment and decided to stay.

I started to discuss various pros and cons of certain curriculum's I have been considering yesterday. Dh said that he wanted help with more income and paying bills. He suggested that we try to put the boys in ps and I could work while they are in school. I was actually considering taking some online courses so that when I went back to work that I had more earning potential.

I can see his point clearly and I know it is hard to be the only income. I have to find a way to earn some money that will still enable us to hs. I have been searching for work at home jobs, but most are not legit.

What kinds of $ things do you do to enable you to homeschool?

Do you work from home?

Any ideas?



I honestly believe we could survive on dh's income if he would curb his spending. Eating lunch out , pizza and after church lunches with friends, and non essential junk.

[2xy]

I wait tables. Flexible hours, no work comes home with me, and I make more $ in fewer hours than I would at other hourly jobs (including the medical assisting I previously did).

[kathymuggle]

If funds are low, I would not buy expensive curriculums. I firmly believe any way of doing HSing can be done of the cheap. The library and internet are amazing things.

As for money....

I currently work part time. As my Dh is home 1/2 the time i am at work, it cuts down on childcare costs. If all my hours were during DH's abscence, working may not be worth it, due to childcare, even though I am paid fairly well.

I have also worked for myself, giving classes. The pay is good, but like many businesses it has its ups and downs (no class=no $); you set the hours.

I have sold items at a Farmers market. Baked goods, jellies and veggies move fairly well.

[karika]

In my state, the public tax funding can be allocated to the parent for schooling at home. We get $1200 per student here. All dd1's curriculum, paper, pens, white boards and art supplies, etc. Anything to do with school is covered. But I don't think that is what you were really asking.

It sounds like your dh is not on board with homeschooling. Perhaps you should draw up why you think HS is best for your children. Then have a piece of paper outlaying how much is spent on crap in a month that could be cut out in order to have more money for bills so you can HS.

There are threads covering why people homeschool. I will look for one and link it when I can gg baby needs me

[ikesmom]

I agree Kathymuggle ..I haven't purchased anything expensive in curriculum and we are finishing our 2nd yr of hs. I wanted to buy the Right Start Math and the Writing with Ease workbooks. I yard sale and thrift sale a lot of books. Library is our 2nd home I think our most expensive cost is p.e class and we go 3 times a week..it cost $48 a month for both boys or $2 per class.

We live in a small rural town and I will have to drive a while to find a job that pays enough $ to make it worth it. This is the thing that makes it difficult..also after school care if I couldn't make it home in time for school get out.

I already tried to look into funding and our state doesn't offer anything unless you choose online charter..which I would consider , but I don't feel like my special needs ds would do well with it.

I don't know what kind of response I was looking for..I know my situation is so limited..not to mention I don't have a college degree to open up any opportunities. I have considered offering childcare through our home..dh isn't enthusiastic about that one

[inky leeuhhh]

maybe a set weekend babysitting job, supplemented by occasional evening babysitting? there was one advertised in my local paper that was 150/weekend from 7-2 sat and sun, and i was sooo tempted to apply even though i already have a job! and i agree, dh needs to understand why hsing is important to you. my dh is crazy with his spending as well, so i know how that is. he spent 120$ this weekend on his dad's father's day gift, which was nice, but NOT in our budget .

[dotnetdiva]

I also recently quit my career and DH moved to a job that only pays 1/3 the salary we're used to. So we're definitely finding ways to cut corners, and I'm not used to doing that, so it isn't easy.

I sell books on Amazon. I also sold most of my expensive photography equipment. I am wondering if we should sell our baby grand piano, but that is probably a good thing to have.

We also stopped our expensive iPhone service and got an iPad instead. No more iPhone, wah!!! We're not big on phones so I suppose it is okay.

[elizawill]

well, we are usually pretty strapped financially, but both my husband and i are committed to homeschooling so we find ways to make it work. a couple of ways that i cut corners is to budget *everything* and i meal plan. i also make my own liquid laundry detergent, which saves us quite a bit each month & it's super easy (and i actually like it better than gain). i sell curriculum whenever i can & for extra money i also sell notecards as a business (which isn't a steady income but it does help). when we get our tax return, i usually buy curriculum for the following year and any memberships that i know we'll enjoy (amusement park, zoo, museums, etc). anyway, each month we manage to get by somehow. you may want to check the work at home forum here on MDC. i bet the mamas there would have good ideas too!! if you have a talent of sorts, you could try to sell things on etsy, ebay, or craigslist. you could also offer services like in-home childcare or tutoring, etc. make a list of things you enjoy and are good it... i bet you could brainstorm and think of something to earn a little $$. hugs.

[hotmamacita]

Originally Posted by ikesmom

I recently quit my job of 3 yrs. for various reasons -schedule, pay, lack of professional environment, ect.... including a possible move to another town closer to the city. We got lucky with a reduction in our house payment and decided to stay.

I started to discuss various pros and cons of certain curriculum's I have been considering yesterday. Dh said that he wanted help with more income and paying bills. He suggested that we try to put the boys in ps and I could work while they are in school. I was actually considering taking some online courses so that when I went back to work that I had more earning potential.

I can see his point clearly and I know it is hard to be the only income. I have to find a way to earn some money that will still enable us to hs. I have been searching for work at home jobs, but most are not legit.

What kinds of $ things do you do to enable you to homeschool?

Do you work from home?

Any ideas?



I honestly believe we could survive on dh's income if he would curb his spending. Eating lunch out , pizza and after church lunches with friends, and non essential junk.

I do not work. We have minimal homeschooling expenses. How I wish our state had a program to reimburse us because we pay a lot in property taxes.

You know, I know this is a bit OT but I have a 'friend' who works. Her husband and she spend a lot of money on eating out, clothing, big ticket items, lessons, improvements to their house/property, etc. She says she wants to stay home but in reality, she does not. She wants the financial freedom that her extra income provides.

You asked for our thoughts on your situation. You mentioned taking courses to attempt to increase your earning potential. I would weigh the cost and time of school versus what, in reality, you may earn. I would also consider that if you really WANT to homeschool and live off his income, then you share your heart with your husband and talk about what you both want for your children's education.

[dotnetdiva]

Yeah, you may want to look into what your state offers. I didn't think Colorado offered anything, but just a few weeks ago, I realized they offer a charter school in which you can also rent curriculum for home use, and it's all free! Trying to get into that now...

I have worked at home - had an online business and a children's photography business, but now I just sell stuff around the house, as mentioned above.

I've also babysat kids my daughter's age a few times and traded in for services. That's how I "paid" for my husband's Father's Day gift - an hour long massage I got for free for watching someone's daughter in a fun sleepover (my dd had a blast).

[Lenore K.]

Same Boat!

A couple of years ago I quit my job for practically the same reasons. Another reason was our daughter getting closer to school-age and knowing the quality of the school system here, I was really stressing over that. It took a year of discussions - pros and cons - with her father before I took the plunge. Our income was cut to a bit less than 1/2. I was the major wage-earner while he watched Anna and ran a small business from home.

I am now getting more satisfaction from being a stay-at-home Mom and doing the bulk of the homeschooling than I was in my profession. Due to a multitude of reasons, my job had become that - just a job - and no longer a satisfying career choice. Anna's father is supportive of the homeschooling and he does see how much we enjoy it and the perks that go along with it. We can have days off whenever he does. We don't have to "schedule" vacations around school. He participates in the homeschooling when he can and serves as our "reviewer," where Anna informally reports during family dinners and such what she has learned. Through this I get to see how much she understands and what we may have to work on a little more. Since she is only six years old our homeschooling is very informally based on her interests with more purposeful planning (or exposure) on our part as she is getting older.

Anna's father did have to curb his spending - actually he has been gradually getting better at budgeting since she was born. I see our decision as a lifestyle choice. Think of the value of your decision in terms of not being able to put a $ amount to it. This may give it a different perspective for him.

This choice had made us slow down and see what is going on in that other lifestyle choice. I see so many parents who both work actually spending very little time with their children. I feel good about our choice. Yes, we are scrimping at times and are not able to participate in some activities, but we seem to have so much more that does not translate into $ very well - just peace of mind.

[sha_lyn]

We made the decision 22 yrs ago after a horrible experience with the sitter when I took a seasonal job at Xmas that I wouldn't work as long as we had kids at home. Of course back then we thought that meant me gong back to work when they were in school. Back then I babysat full time and did so off and on for about 8 years. I didn't go back to work full time when DS enter school mainly because of DHs schedule and my grandmothers health.

Then around the time we decided to homeschool we were lucky to have a good enough income that we didn't have to worry. That all changed when DH was laid off in 2002. He found a job quckly but at 1/2 the pay. We went through our life savings pretty quickly. To help with expenses I started babysitting again. When that really didn't work out because of our schedule I started working a couple of nights a week in the office of the martial arts studio where we were all students. It basically was a bartering arrangement but it did help because we didn't want to give up martial arts. DS also worked there teaching a few classes. This gave him spending money which really helped us out too. I've also taught martial arts part time for a friend mostly during baseball season so that she could coach her son's team.
Unfortunately our instructor moved away and my friend closed her business. Right now $$ is really tight and I am faced with trying to find some way to bring in even a little every week. I'm hoping that I can at least find a volunteer position in a homeschool co-op that will allow us to enroll at a greatly reduced rate. My friend is also thinking of starting up her martial arts business again so I am hoping to work one day a week for her. If I could just manage to make $50-$100 a week and keep our homeschool costs down by volunteering with a co-op all will be fine.

[ikesmom]

Thanks everyone!

Dh knows my feelings on the kids. He keeps trying to encourage me to teach as a profession because of my passion for learning. That is a whole other stack of pancakes.

God must be watching over me because DH received a phone call today for a job interview that would enable him to work from home for a major company. It provides benefits too which is wonderful. I think he is just burnt out with his current job and it is taking a toll on his outlook. His interview is this Friday..keep me in your prayers!

[chaoticzenmom]

Awesome! I love it when things work out like that. I hope he gets the job!