How to Homeschool on a Budget: Affordable & Attainable Ways to Homeschool
- Feb 27
- 6 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
Affordable Christian Homeschool Curriculum: How to Homeschool on a Budget
Many families assume homeschooling is expensive, but the truth is you can homeschool on a budget with the right tools and expectations. Christian homeschool curriculum can be incredibly expensive — but it doesn’t have to be! We want Christian homeschooling to feel accessible and attainable for more families, without cost or difficulty as a barrier.
You can homeschool nearly for FREE.
Homeschooling is an investment.
It is a deeply worthwhile investment in your children — but it does not have to be an enormous financial investment. It is certainly a time investment, yet it doesn’t have to be overwhelming or all-consuming.
Our goal is to share strategic ways to:
Lower the cost of homeschooling
Moderate the time commitment
Increase the return on investment (ROI)
Because Christian homeschooling is about more than academics.
For our family, we don’t homeschool simply because of what we can avoid by not sending our children to public school. We homeschool because we want to maximize their education by teaching them about Jesus. We use education to impress God’s Word and His ways on their hearts and minds.
We aren’t only aiming for academic success in this life. We want godly wisdom that carries eternal value. Salvation is the most valuable free gift — it costs us nothing, yet it changes everything. We believe we can pursue eternal priorities while still giving our children an excellent academic education.
And we can do it affordably.
Practical Tips for Homeschooling on a Budget:
Here are practical ways to make Christian homeschooling on a budget realistic:
1. Choose Free Christian Homeschool Curriculum
We’re obviously partial to TMGW 🙂 But truly, using a free homeschool curriculum dramatically reduces your yearly expenses.
2. Print What You Need at Home
A good printer is an upfront investment — so is ink. But if you plan to homeschool long-term, saving for a reliable printer is worth it. It becomes one of your most useful homeschool tools.
3. Use Notebooks Instead of Printing Everything
For older grades especially, students can complete workbook pages in a simple notebook instead of printing every worksheet. This significantly reduces printing costs.
For Kindergarten and 1st grade, we do recommend fully printed workbooks.
4. Invest in a Spiral Binding Machine
A spiral punch/binding machine is another upfront investment that pays for itself over time. Ours was around $120 and has more than paid for itself. If you print your own curriculum, binding your own books keeps everything organized and durable.
Most TMGW printed books are under $30 each. Save your Parent Plan Book (Rainbow) or Teacher’s Guide (Cycles 1 & 2) to reuse year after year. For under $100, you can homeschool 1–2 children using TMGW.
6. Buy Used Whenever Possible
We regularly buy used or discounted books. YWAM runs large spring sales and heavily discounts book sets we love for history and geography. Garage sales, thrift stores, and online used bookstores are excellent resources. Full-price new books do not need to be your default.
7. Visit the Library
Libraries are goldmines for homeschool families. Many carry Christian books, biographies, atlases, and supplemental readers. Don’t overlook digital resources like audiobooks and eBooks through your library system.
8. Use Your State’s Homeschool Allotment (If Available)
Some states offer homeschool allotments that can cover supplies like printers, ink, paper, laminators, or binding machines.
Options vary widely by state. We’d love to hear what homeschooling looks like where you live.
We personally homeschool in Alaska, one of the most homeschool-friendly states in the country. Alaska offers a generous allotment system that feels supportive — even for Christian families. While we cannot use state funds for Christian curriculum itself, we can use the allotment for supplies. Since TMGW is offered for free, families here can essentially homeschool for free.
If your state offers an allotment, we encourage you to research it carefully and talk with other Christian homeschool families in your area.
“I’m Not One of Those People” — Can I Really Homeschool?
Yes, you are.
If God has called you to homeschool your children — then yes, you are capable.
I know because I’m not “naturally” one of those people either. I’m not naturally calm or endlessly patient. I didn’t major in education. Most days I still don’t feel like “one of those homeschool moms.”
I hear this from mothers often.
If they’re still in a season where the decision is possible, I tell them:
Homeschooling isn’t for special people. It’s for moms. It’s for dads. It’s for families who care — even a little bit.
Homeschool Time Commitment by Grade Level
Will it take time? Yes.
But not as much as you might think.
We personally know multiple dual-income families who homeschooled successfully. We started as one of those families.
As the mom carrying most of the responsibility, it was challenging — but possible. I brought three children ages five and under to work with me as a hairdresser. I began homeschooling our oldest between clients. He would complete assignments and wait if he had questions.
It wasn’t ideal. But it worked.
Another dear friend did the same. I know a family where the mom worked full time while the dad worked out of town half the year — they created an unorthodox schedule and made homeschooling work beautifully. I even met a public school teacher who taught all day, then homeschooled her own children in the evenings.
This is not an unrealistic, idealized picture. These are real families I know and respect.
Homeschooling is possible in more situations than we often assume.
How Time Investment Changes by Grade
I can only speak from our family’s experience, but here’s what we’ve found:
Kindergarten & 1st Grade
These years require focused effort because you’re teaching your child to read. However, the workload itself is simple. We typically finished in two hours or less using both TMGW and other curriculums we tried.
2nd–4th Grade
This stage requires more time. Students still need guidance, especially in writing and building strong sentence and paragraph structure. That foundation matters.
We typically spend about three hours per day at this stage. In demanding seasons, you can scale back to the essentials:
Bible
Language Arts
Math
We’ve had years like that. You might miss the extras more than your children do. If you’re in a hard season, give yourself grace.
4th Grade and Up
Work becomes more rigorous and time-consuming — for them. That’s healthy. They are building endurance.
In our home, we do Bible together, and then our oldest completes most of his academic work independently. I help with brainstorming writing projects and check assignments, but he is largely self-sufficient.
Family-style homeschool curriculum becomes especially helpful when teaching multiple ages. Older children can work independently while joining younger siblings for history, geography, science, art, and Bible.
If I were homeschooling only older students, I could easily assign sections from our Online Program and allow them to work independently with minimal involvement.
We love learning together as a family — but we also recognize that not every season allows for that ideal.
If you have toddlers running around or a baby to nurse, school may take longer. That’s okay.
We don’t want ideals to keep you from homeschooling.
Some days you knock it out of the park. Other days you check half the boxes and trust the Lord with the results.
We’ve spoken with enough public school teachers to know that not every day is a home run in traditional school either.
So don’t carry unnecessary stress.
Stay focused on the Lord. Be faithful. Follow through. Cast your cares on Him in the rough seasons.
Christian homeschooling doesn’t have to be expensive.
Christian Homeschooling Is Attainable for Your Family
It simply requires obedience, consistency, and a willingness to begin. Trust God to help you through the process, He is faithful!
“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”
James 1:5, NIV
If you want to homeschool affordably, we would love to help.
That It May Go Well homeschool curriculum is completely free to download and designed for families teaching multiple children together. You can explore the curriculum here.
Comments