Thursday 2 May 2013

Keeping the cost of living down

Most home educating families are also single income families. The greatest cost is often the loss of income rather than home educating materials. In addition, educational resources often cost money and there is also additional wear and tear on the home.

These are a few thoughts about keeping costs down in an economy where incomes are generally not going up and prices aren't going down.

  • Home educate locally.  Petrol prices can negate a cheaper course further away. Petrol in the UK is expensive-currently, the cheapest petrol near here is 131.9p per litre  ($9.32 per gallon for my US readers) Of course, we do go on trips but we try to be intentional about these. A trip has to have a reason and preferably for more than one child. Home educating locally also saves time. 


  • In the UK, it is often worth checking whether a trip on public transport is cheaper than car travel. Sometimes it is; sometimes it isn't.

  • Make a budget and write down every item of expenditure-it can be frightening but at least it can give an idea of where money is wasted.

  • Buy in bulk. Potatoes in 25kg bags tend to be so much cheaper than in the supermarket. We managed to combine a trip with buying 25kg stone ground flour at a price that undercut the supermarket and supported a fantastic museum

  • Cheap supermarkets-I'm writing this to myself. Recently, I have mainly brought from the home delivery service of the main supermarkets. Shopping at Lidl or Aldi is cheaper. They don't have everything but visiting them instead of a middle of the road supermarket, once every few weeks is definitely worthwhile. We have found that coffee, chocolate and vegetables are especially good picks.

  • Washing lines/airers pay for themselves rapidly!

  • Compare prices-the moneysaving expert is a great resource for anyone based in the UK. 

  • I've been struck recently by the thought that we are called to be stewards of our possessions. If we need and use something that is great but if it is stored for the never-never then this is poor stewardship. Again, I talk to myself.

  • Repair-this may be mending at home. We've found that some dry cleaners do repairs to a high standard. 
Money saving resources
Not money saving but a helpful perspective on not having everything


Money saving posts on this blog
How do you keep the cost of living down? For more posts on the Frugal Homeschool do visit the Schoolhouse Review Crew blog.



10 comments:

  1. This was such a great post - very timely for us. Gary and I, in the new year, made the decision to throw all our money into our mortgage to try to pay it off in the next few years. This has taken a considerable amount out of our budget (we've currently doubled our mortgage payments), and we're trying to find ways to make this work.
    This was a great list- I'll let you know if I discover anything else!!

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    1. Worth the effort though! It will be worth the pain once you are mortgage free.

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  2. These are some great tips. I didn't realize gas was so expensive over there! Wow!

    I love the part about being good stewards; the Lord has change mine and my husband's hearts on this and we are cleaning house! No point in having what we don't use or need!

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    1. Thank you-yes, the cost of travel is a real issue here although we have some savings in that this distances are smaller.

      I've had really had to think about the stewardship issue. Hopefully, we are slowly working to having what we need and not hanging on to things this in case!

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    2. Thank you-yes, the cost of travel is a real issue here although we have some savings in that this distances are smaller.

      I've had really had to think about the stewardship issue. Hopefully, we are slowly working to having what we need and not hanging on to things this in case!

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  3. As the cost of food goes up in our little town, the more I see how wise it is to purchase in larger quantities in one of the larger nearby towns. We definitely do NOT get our money's worth here! Great tips; thanks for sharing!

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  4. Years ago I had a clothesline and I loved it. Now they seem pretty much non-existent. I have always wanted to find a place to put one up, but since living in Oregon I don't know how many days (except summer) I would even get to put clothes on it.

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    1. I love drying clothes outside too. Clotheslines are quite easy to find here and so cheap that they would easily pay for themselves over the summer. I use my clothes line on dry days in autumn and spring-even if the clothes aren't completely dry they can often just be aired inside over night.

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  5. We are learning to repair and refurbish instead of automatically buying new. It's actually fun, besides being cost-effective.

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  6. Cost of living comparison is immensely of paramount importance for expats who move to destination country to take up work assignments. Cost of living is considered as the monetary cost of maintaining ones standard of living.

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