Save Money by Reusing Items in Your Homeschool

Let’s face it, homeschooling can be a burden on our pocketbooks! It is likely you are living on one income and are financially responsible for your child’s education because of your choice to homeschool. Therefore, any money saving tips are usually a welcome sight to our tired eyes.  Here are 3 easy ways to Save Money by Reusing Items in Your Homeschool.

HHM Save Money by Reusing

1. Save Printer Paper

We do a fair amount of printing here in our homeschool. We often find we need to print something, like directions, but then the use for that paper is done. Or I mess up a setting and print on the wrong printer or print the wrong pages. Whatever the case, I find that we could throw out a lot of printer paper that is printed on just one side. Instead of throwing this paper out, we keep what we call “the scrap pile.” We keep a pile of all of this paper that is still good on one side sitting out so it is easy to access. We use it to make shopping lists or as math scratch paper; my little one even uses it to make pictures as it doesn’t matter to her what the back looks like.  We have used it to make paper airplanes and to build something for a science project. It makes great painting paper too!

2. Use Sheet Protectors

Especially during our children’s younger years when they were learning to write, sheet protectors and dry erase markers came in very handy. There are tons of free printables available on the web. By using a sheet protector and dry erase markers, you can save on paper and ink by not having to print again.  These types of things are great for mazes, color by numbers, search a words, and printing and cursive handwriting practice. When we took trips, we had a binder for each child filled with activities that suited him or her.  It was all sheet protected and included a host of colorful dry erase markers.

3. Save Binders & Folders

At the end of each school year, we find we have tons of folders and binders filled with work. Many of these can be emptied and the contents thrown in the recycling bin (think spelling lists, endless math problems, etc). The binder or folder, however, can be saved. By either not writing on the binder or folder or by using pencil on labels, it is easy to reuse them the following year. For instance, I have a spelling binder for my son where we keep his work each year. At the end of the year, I empty the binder and place it on the shelf to be used again for the next year. With binders that contain work we want to save, I cut up a pipe cleaner and loop the pieces through the holes in the paper to keep it together and store, and I put the binder back  to use again!

What are the ways you have found to reuse items for your homeschool?

Graphic used in pinnable image (Tax Calculation by cooldesign) is from http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/.

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