This post is from contributor, Megan Zechman
If you have a getting out of debt story that you’d like to share and encourage other readers on Free Homeschool Deals please contact me! It might be featured in Debt Free Homeschool feature. {You don’t have to BE debt free to submit your story. Just share with us your tips, tricks, and helpful thoughts on how your family is making it work!}
I’ve been a homeschooling mom for about eight years now and for almost half of those, we were also a family in debt. Nothing excessive, just school loans, a car loan, and a small credit card balance that never seemed to go away.
We were able to make the monthly payments, so it didn’t seem like a big deal. One day, though, we decided we didn’t want our current income going toward our past, so we made a plan to pay everything off.
As you can imagine, getting rid of our loans has been a positive change in our lives, but I never realized what a difference it would make in our homeschool.
Three Ways My Homeschooling Changed After Getting Out of Debt
Stress
I am a worrier by nature, and money is one of my biggest stress triggers. Now that we’re not trying to pay off loans or living beyond our means, I don’t get as worked up about our finances.
This has taken a load of stress off me and allowed me to be more present in my life, including during school.
Time
Living a frugal lifestyle takes time and energy. I was spending hours trying to score rock-bottom prices on curriculum and downloading every free printable I could find. I was saving money, so it was worth it.
Don’t get me wrong, I still try to save money when buying curriculum. The library continues to be my most valued homeschool resource. But now I weigh the savings against the cost of my time.
Being debt-free gives me the freedom to purchase curriculum when I need it, sometimes at full price, which may not save me money, but definitely saves me time.
Choices
Many homeschooling activities cost money. Previously I had two choices – don’t do it, or add to our debt. I was either sad that we couldn’t attend an event or feeling guilty that I had spent money to do something.
Now we have a schooling fund. Every month I put aside a certain amount of money, which is what I use for all our school-related expenses.
If there is something I want to do or curriculum I want to buy, as long as I have the money in that account, I know I can do it without guilt or stress. What freedom!!
Getting out of debt has given me the chance to homeschool the way I always wanted to. We travel more and spend a lot of time learning through real life application and hands-on activities.
Being debt-free won’t make things perfect. Life still happens. But living without debt hanging over your head will make a big difference in your life, including your homeschool.
How would getting out of debt change your homeschooling?
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- 10 Table Manners Every Middle Schooler Should Know - April 24, 2017
- Mini Canvas Chalk Pastel Art–A Frugal Christmas Gift - December 14, 2015
Garden, can, pick wild berries, u-pick, preparing to sale product at farmers market.
Raise our own beef. Plan to raise chickens again. Fish (need to do more). Would hunt if we didn’t have our own meat).
Preparing to purchase wood stove.
Pay cash for everything.
Eat out once per month or divide this money into small treats, once a week.
No cable, cell, land line only. Just this miserable internet service.
Used clothing and household supplies.
Use a file for budget money. Each section covers -food (x5), homeschool, clothing, treat, allowance ($5/mnth -giving, savings, spending), medical, glasses, teeth, savings for replacement of broken appliance (we have a dryer but use a huge dryer rack that we purchased), birthday/Christmas.
Hubby looks after utilities.
Library, library, library.
I do set money aside to buy news home school books.
Travel very rarely. “Gasp!!!”
Buy good quality used vehicles. Drive speed limit and vehicles last so much longer. We’ve never caused an accident so we get decent discounts on our insurance.