Guest Post: Teaching on a Budget

Guest Post by Misty from HomeschoolBytes.com

I'm a homeschool mom to five kids, ages 8 and
under. In some minds, that makes me either crazy or heroic, but I do
have an interesting household most days. See:

Buying school supplies for a large family means I'm always on the
lookout for a good deal. And there are plenty to be had if you know
where to look. Here are some of my favorites:

Educational Software

Did you know you qualify to purchase the education version of most
mainstream software packages if you are a college student, a teacher, a
homeschool parent, or on behalf of your child grade K through 12?  Yes, all you have to do is have a child in school to qualify! 

And these are full working versions of the software for a fraction
of the cost. You do need to read the education qualifications for the
specific software to verify before purchasing, but usually it just
requires an education ID of some sort. A report card or one of
the free IDS many children get now from the portrait companies at the
beginning of the year works fine. (Homeschoolers, you can get a free eligibility letter from Homeschool Buyers Co-op.)

For example, you can get the latest Microsoft Office Pro for $119.95 on The Academic Superstore, a discount of 70% off the same program sold for $395.99 on Amazon. (If you decide to buy from The Academic Superstore, join Coupon Cactus first and get an extra 1.5% rebate. See this post for more information.)

The only downside is when an upgrade comes along you can't get the
discounted upgrade price since you don't own a 'Full Version'. In the
past, however, I've found that buying the educational version each time
is still cheaper than a full version followed by the discounted
upgrades.

Educational Internet Deals

1. Freebie of the Day–This is a great site with a free homeschooling resource you can download each weekday.
2. CurrClick–They sell lots of high quality electronic curriculum for decent prices, and if you sign up for their email newsletter you'll get a free downloadable product each week. We really enjoyed a recent free lapbook download about bees.
3. Homeschool Buyers Co-op–For the homeschool parents out there: Did you ever wish you could
   get the great discounts that schools get by buying bulk? Well, that's
   what the Walter family wanted, too. So they started an awesome co-op
   that now has thousands of members. They go out to suppliers and
   organize great discounted deals for all of us. Best of all, it's free
   to register. Feel free to explore their site; they also have lists of many free resources. 

Where to Find Used Curriculum

1. Homeschool Classifieds
   is a goldmine of curriculum listed by homeschool parents for very
   reasonable costs. And unlike EBay, it's free to list up to 7 items,
   with only a $5 charge per year to list more. 
Ebay is always a good place to look for hard-to-find items. Try using a couple newer features to help get what you want: Saved searches can send you an email any time an item you're looking for is posted. Bid Assistant
will help you grab a bunch of 'like items', specify how much you're
willing to pay, and it will do the bidding, item by item until you
either win an item or run out of items. A true time saver.
Local Homeschool Co-ops usually have a
curriculum sale once or twice a year with great prices and best of all,
no shipping!  Find a local group here.

Teacher Discount Cards (for public school and homeschool teachers)

1. Joanns–get a 15% off Teacher Rewards card from Joanns here. If you are a homeschooler, you need to get a PEAH number first here before registering with Joanns. 
2. Staples–Get a Staples Teacher Rewards card here, print a copy online to use right away, or ask for a card to be sent in the mail. (The best deals are found the last month or two of the summer.)
3. And check out this great page for more homeschool discounts including Borders, Barnes and Noble, Kinkos, and more.

All-in-all the internet has not just revolutionized teaching with
more resources than you have time to get to, but it has done the same
with finding bargains to make teaching supplies much more affordable. I'd love to hear your favorite places to find teaching and educational bargains, too!

Misty is a homeschool mom of 5 in Michigan who, among other
things, keeps bees in her backyard, had 2 kids while she was in medical school, loves
being a stay-at-home mom, and shows everyone her Kroger receipt proudly
displayed on the fridge that reads "Total $0.39, Savings $104.53!" 
Thank you, MoneySavingMom!  She currently blogs about homeschooling at HomeschoolBytes and alternative health at DocMisty.