Annual school budget

[Tracey in TX]

What is a typical budget for the school year? What does this include?

[kaylk in tx]

that's for 2 will-be first graders and 1 3rd grader. this doesn't include zoo membership, children's museum membership, swimming, baseball, soccer, etc..... just curriculum. if i were to add all that other stuff in, i'd probably faint! :eek:

[littlefamily]

I budget about $600 in June to buy next year's books. I have two children 4th grade and 3rd grade, so some materials/subjects are shared (history, science etc...) We do tend to buy all new books. I just don't have the time to watch the sale boards.

I then also have a monthly budget which includes activities (music lessons etc..) and books. We moved to an area with a poor library, so the book part of the monthly budget is $75/mo. which also includes my books. Amazon is my best friend! :)

Laura

[KristineIN]

Last year I spent about 450 on materials, co-op classes and field trips. It averages to about $40 a month, which is where dh would like it. I borrow what I can and that helps, I buy used and watch for sales. I used to spend a lot more, but we just don't have the money, so I'm trying to be wiser in what I do buy.

Kristine

[tess in the burbs]

We are very frugal in our budget but if I ask for anything school related Dh says, "get it"! :eek: Sounds ok but he could outspend out budget monthly with that attitude, lol.

Right now I have $400 planned to spend for next year's books and we will also need supplies like crayons, tape and such and will most likely buy a bunch when the school sales start ;)

I would suspect *how much* would depend on the size of the family. I have two kids doing back to back grades, so they share several subjects and the second uses a lot of stuff the second time around so I am not truly buying for two kids in all subjects.

[Rebel]

It averages out to about $200 a month for my one ds, age 14. That includes any curriculum, drum lessons, fencing club, Latin tutor, and misc. supplies. This does not include any summer camps.

[Mrs Mungo]

I typically spend $1200 for our curricula for the year, I have 3 kids. Mid-year I may spend $100 more. I don't figure extra classes and such as part of our school budget since they would be in sports or classes even if they were in traditional school. I do buy a lot of extras though-science kits, I buy most of the books we use for SOTW, etc.

[JudoMom]

looked back, and I think we're around $500/year, on average. I usually place 2 orders--one for $200-$300 for the fall, and one for $150 or so in the Spring.

Judo isn't figured in, but that's $250/year for class, plus any tournament fees, etc. Piano is $60/month for both ds8 & ds7. This also doesn't include our family read alouds, which run anywhere from $4-$10 each if I buy them. But these 3 things, while I count them towards school, I don't really consider school, because we'd do them even if the boys went to school.

[Jennifer in NH]

I'm at about $1200 too. That is for a 1st grader and a 3rd grader. Most of it is reusable for when the toddler gets to that age too. It includes all curricula, including science experiments and all books. Not all years have been this much. Some books I plan to use 3 times, like all math text books, SOTW books, readers, etc... I'm not on a strict budget, but I really don't want to drop thousands...we don't do any co ops or music lessons. That would require driving an hour each way, so eveything I spend is for in house use. If that makes any sense.

[elegantlion]

We spent 500.00 on curriculum last year with about 150.00 in misc expenses over the year. That includes ink and copy paper.

Next year ,5th grade, we will probably spend close to 700.00 for curriculum and probably close to a 1000.00 total for the year. I am working on buildling our library of reference materials.

[lynn]

I don't have a budget. I get my kids the best of the best for the year. I do however spend a few months finding the best price on whatever that is via ebay, the boards on wtm and used book stores and there is a great hsing consignement storehere that I frequent and that has a huge sale in August where anyone can come and sell their curriculum.

[Sarah CB]

I spend $1000 per child on books and curriculum. That does not cover music lessons, taekwon-do, or any other activities. Our regular activities cost about $500 per month (for all three kids) and then we do the odd session of swimming lessons or tennis as well.

The $1000 per child is funded in my province and we pay for the rest.

[nutmeg]

A great thread on the k-8 board: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4429

[Jenny in Florida]

. . . $400 in curriculum and books next year. That's for one child.

That does not count outside classes or activities that might be considered "extracurricular." As someone else said, I don't think it's fair to count them, since kids who go to school participate in those, too.

My son's dance tuition is $225 per month during the academic year. (Ouch.) He also sings with a choir, does occasional drama classes and takes piano. All told, those things cost about $3000 per year. If you average it out over the entire calendar year, instead of just the months during the academic year when we actually pay most of the bills, it's about $260 per month.

--Jenny