How to Create a Homeschool Budget – Free Printable

Homeschooling doesn’t have to be expensive but the costs can come as a surprise to those just starting out down this road.  Many new homeschoolers (and even veterans) don’t think about how the costs can add up throughout the year or when purchasing a year’s worth of materials in a short period of time.  Let’s walk though how to use sinking funds to save up for homeschooling expenses. Be sure to grab your Homeschool Budget Planner at the end of the post!

 

 

Sinking Funds for Homeschool Expenses

I budget small amounts of money for homeschool expenses throughout the year so that I’ll have enough to pay for the expenses as they come up.  A sinking fund is simply a savings account that you set aside for a large upcoming expense.  Transfer small amounts of money into it with regular automatic transfers so that you’ll have the full amount when the expense is due.

This is a fantastic way to put your savings on autopilot so that you can cash flow large expenses instead of going into debt.  You can read more about sinking funds and how we use them for many large expenses such as car and home repairs, car replacement and insurance, and many more expenses.

Even though we use the same sinking fund idea for homeschool expenses, it’s a bit different to set up than for car insurance which has just one or two predictable bills a year.  There can be a few different elements to consider when determining your homeschool budget.  Let’s walk through how to budget and save for these expenses.

 

Create a Homeschool Budget

First, you need to decide what you’ll be using in the coming year.  This should include…

• curriculum
• manipulatives for math
• supplies for art
• online classes
• co-op classes
• supplemental books
• workbooks
• continuing education books or classes for you!

You can also include extras such as field trip costs, museum memberships, and general school supplies. Those expenses can be difficult to predict, so you can build in an extra cushion or cash flow those expenses as needed.

I like to use Excel, but you can also make your own chart using a pencil and paper.  (Find a free template down below!)  Each kid will need two columns – one column will have the name of the curriculum and the other will have the price.  Label the rows with each subject that you’ll be teaching in the coming school year.  Fill in the grid with the names of the curriculum that you’ll be using for each kid in each subject and its price.  For materials that will be shared, note it under one student.

Once you have all of this information, add up the total cost of next year’s homeschool curriculum and supplies.  Most veteran homeschoolers don’t purchase all of their curriculum at one time unless they use a “boxed” curriculum.  Some kids fly through a program and you may need to buy the next level sooner than expected.  Other kids need extra time, so the program ends up taking longer to get through.  To account for these variables, use the money that’s accumulated in the sinking fund whenever needed as the fund continues to grow to cover future expenses.

 

Set up the Sinking Fund

With more predictable sinking funds, we have a due date for the expense, so we divide the total amount due by the number of transactions we’ll do into that sinking fund savings account before the due date.  That gives us the amount per transfer.  Since homeschool expenses are often on-going, we’ll need to find another way to find the amount per transfer.  You’ll need to decide if you’re going to make monthly, semimonthly, or even weekly transfers into this savings account.  Use the Homeschool Budget Planner (available below) to help.  A few things to consider…

 

Play with the numbers a bit to find what work for your situation…

• Decide on a date that you’d like to purchase all of your curriculum and supplies.  Figure out how many transfers you’ll do before that date (either month, semimonthly or weekly).  Divide the amount needed by the number of transfers.  This is your amount per transfer.

 

• If you use a large boxed curriculum that covers most subjects, decide when you’d like to make that purchase. Use that date as the due date.  Divide the total amount needed by how many transfers into the sinking account you’ll do before that due date.  Then, you’ll have the funds needed by the time the biggest purchase is made.

 

• If you purchase a little from everywhere, decide when you’ll need to buy most of it and use that as your due date. Divide the amount needed by how many transfers into the sinking account that you’ll do before that due date.

 

Or you can wing it a bit… (this is what I do)

• Take the total amount needed over the course of one year of homeschooling and divide that by the number of transfers you’ll do during a whole year. This works best if you can cash flow expenses that come up before you’ve had time to build your sinking fund or if you have a longer time before your biggest purchases will be made.

Once you find your amount per transfer, set up an automatic transfer from your checking account into the savings account for the sinking fund.  As with any automatic withdrawal, make sure you have the money in your checking account to cover the transaction.  Add the monthly amount to your budget.

As you can see, it’s simple to look ahead and plan for homeschool expenses.  We can put small amounts of money aside regularly throughout the year so that we’ll have the money needed when it’s time to purchase our curriculum and other supplies.

Looking for some budget templates to get you started? 

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