Going through a season of not enough? Be it layoffs or excess bills, a season of not enough income is hard on anyone!
Can a homeschool family survive? With some adjusting and fine tuning, the answer is yes!
In the case of layoffs or terminations, when that pink slip comes across the desk, the time for cutbacks is now! Though there may be unemployment funds rolling in, it’s best to prepare early on for the possibility of extended unemployment. Pray for the best, but, prepare for the worst!
If you haven’t already, break down your monthly expenses and see where cuts can be made.
- Can your current phone contract be scaled back for something more reasonable?
- Do you really need satellite/cable?
- Can you go down to owning one vehicle?
- Can any services you presently use be negotiated for a lower rate?
- Can you trade services such as babysitting for haircutting? Any bartering relationships?
What about the kids and their activities?
- How about carpooling with other families to save on gas?
- What about the activities that have a monthly tuition? Do any offer scholarships based on need?
- If your children are old enough to receive allowance, consider having them pay all or part of the cost. Not only does it make that activity more meaningful, but, is a good learning experience on the power of money and choosing wisely.
This season will also cause you to be more purposeful in planning, especially in the area of your food budget.
- Plan your menu ahead of time to avoid the fast food drive through.
- Cooking from scratch (or nearly scratch) is cheaper than buying prepackaged foods.
- Whatever your new budget is for food, stick to it and make the healthiest choices possible based on the new financial guidelines.
And finally, buying curriculum without spending a fortune. You have a couple of options:
- Swap/borrow curriculum with another family.
- Buy/sell curriculum at used curriculum sales that generally abound in the spring.
- Buy/sell curriculum off of eBay or Amazon. From my own experience, eBay is fairly easy to use to buy and sell curriculum. If you are selling, you have to pay a small commission. If you are buying, look for sellers with high positive feedback, clear pictures and detailed explanations of what they are selling and its’ condition. eBay is especially good at arbitration should an issue arise with an item purchased.
With implementing a few changes and modifying your mind set, it is possible with preparation, patience and prayer to weather this season.
