Homeschooling  with Autism

If you are a homeschooling parent in Ontario, you are responsible for paying for all of your homeschooling expenses out of your pocket. This includes all of your homeschooling materials, expenses for field trips, and expenses for services and therapies that are not covered under the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP).  Homeschooling doesn’t have to be expensive, but there are some things that all homeschoolers would like to do or purchase and use while living the homeschooling experience. Homeschooling has saved us money in some ways. We don’t have to spend money on extra gas to go to and from a school or buy specifically prepared lunches for my child to eat while attending.

 

Personal finance is PERSONAL. To each, their own. Every one has to tailor their financial planning to suit their situation. There are many wonderful financial programs and financial advisors out there that you can look up to help sort out your financial situation with any size income or budget. The structure of your family does not matter (single, married/partner), everyone at some point or another wishes to improve their financial situation and with homeschooling economics, it can be done!

 

We are a proud debt-free homeschooling family and we focus on learning about “real life” financial situations and solutions.

​

Your Personal Budget

 

Figuring out your monthly budget is worth every penny (no pun intended) and the best way to start improving your financial situation for the better for you and your family. A clear budget detailing what your income is and your expenses per month will show you exactly where your money is being spent and you can decide where you are overspending on and where you can make changes to adjust things that you want to cut back on and direct your money elsewhere to save and invest for other and more important things. It is best to do a Net Worth calculation first to look at the big picture and then a monthly calculation to determine which way to proceed.  Download our Monthly Budget Printout to help you get on track!

​

The Emergency Fund

 

We all know that life, in general, is full of surprises where things sometimes “just happen”. These are things that are completely out of our control. There could be a hidden fee that pops up in your bank account that you were not aware of or a major appliance in your home could fail and it must be repaired. You could experience a reduction in your income that you didn’t expect such as a job loss, or injury, sickness, or death. There are many unfortunate possibilities of things that could happen and all of these things can have a major impact on any sized family financially. But if you have a solid financial plan with an emergency fund to cover it, you will not have to stress about it (at least financially) should it come your way. Having a fully stocked Emergency Fund has helped us navigate through many family emergencies.  This has been a blessing to our family and has given us great peace of mind.  Generally, an emergency fund is 3 to 6 months of savings that would allow you to be able to maintain your expenses at home comfortably should an emergency arrive.  Things to take into consideration for this would be enough funds to cover your mortgage, rent, hydro, electric, heat/ac, grocery, phone, cable, internet, gas for the car, take out, and entertainment.

 

How do you start an Emergency Fund?

 

Open up a high-interest savings account that is separate from your regular chequing account. This is where you will store your Emergency Fund (your configured amount) and leave it there to use for emergencies only! This is not used to pay off debt. You will accumulate interest which is also another “real life” math lesson your family will enjoy.  Should an emergency come up and you need to use your emergency fund, be sure that you replenish it again as soon as possible.

​

How to Increase Your Income and Cut-Back

 

Of course, you can always look for an additional side job to increase your income.  If you can do it in your family, that is great!  However, while it is easy for someone to tell you to look for other opportunities to work overtime around your homeschooling schedule, sometimes realistically it is not always possible, or even desired!   It is very difficult to run a household, homeschool a child, work a regular job, work a bunch of other little side jobs just to make ends meet, and have no time for yourself!  No one wants to do that.  You have to be realistic about your situation. So here are some simple ideas of things for you to consider reviewing to make changes in your spending habits to help add up some extra savings for you quickly!

 

Food

 

With homeschooling prepping practices in place, it is possible to have all 3 square meals and flexible snack times in abundance. Our food inventory is always checked over before we shop. We generally order all of our groceries online. We find that it is quick and simple. It saves us time, energy, and money in the long run.  Any grocery delivery service we use, we purchase a membership to avoid additional delivery fees. If the daunting task of heading to the grocery store does come up, I eat before I go.  I head out alone with my list and only purchase what is on the list. We make a grocery list of things we want and need, and then we re-evaluate it based on things we need to restock up on and go from there. We stick to our list. We purchase all of the necessary/mandatory items first and then focus on the extras. We try to buy in bulk on certain non-perishable items that have a stable shelf life. We try to use cheaper grocery stores that have the same brand name products but are less expensive. We also have tried some store-brand products and have found that we have been pleasantly surprised by how fantastic they taste!

​

Home Cooking and Ordering Out

 

Part of our homeschooling includes cooking lessons. We enjoy getting creative with cooking meals and baking from many items from our pantry. Anything that is made in bulk is frozen and stored for quick meals in the future to help with cooking times. While homemade meals and baked goods are ultimately healthier, preservative-free, and tastier, we still do enjoy ordering from our favourite restaurants sometimes when it is within our budget.

​

Subscriptions

 

When reviewing your budget, you will want to consider canceling any unnecessary or unused paid memberships or paid subscriptions.  There is nothing wrong with having a subscription to something, but just be sure that your actually using it to it's full advantage.  Don't be afraid to try without something for a while, you can always get it back again in the future. 

​

Out with the old, in with the new:

 

We sell, swap, or donate outdated or unused items that take up space in our home either online or by having a garage sale. This goes from clothing to other household items. Any extra money from this is used for homeschooling supplies.

 

Change Things Up

 

Find out what the minimum requirement is for your bank to avoid bank fees. Some banks do not have any fees. Consider changing banks if you need to.  This principle also applies to other companies.  If you can get a better deal with another company, consider changing your services to them to get a better rate.

​

No More Debt

 

Debt comes in many forms. The most common debts are credit cards, loans, car payments, and mortgages. Being debt-free is a huge release of pressure not only financially but emotionally. There are many ways that you can focus on eliminating your debts.
 

• You can start by paying off the smallest debt and work your way to paying off the largest debt.

• You can start by paying off the largest debt and work your way down to paying off the smallest debt.

• You can start by paying off the debt that has the highest interest rates to the lowest interest rates.

 

Whichever way you feel would work best for your situation, it doesn’t matter. As long as you start to eliminate your debt by following a plan that works for you to be rid of it forever, that is all that matters.  You can download our Monthly Budget Printout to help get you on track! 

 

How to find your Net Worth

 

Your Net Worth is calculated by:

 

What you own  $_______________    minus (-) What you owe $_________________  = Net Worth:  $_______________

 

*If you have Term Life Insurance, do not include any life insurance as part of your net worth. 

​

Insurance

 

There are many types of insurances. This ranges from life, car, accident, home/renters, health, and homeschooling insurance.

Make sure that you have enough life insurance if something happens to you. The best way to determine how much you would need would be to take your total income amount and multiply that by 12. This is the estimated minimum of how much money you want to have in Term Life insurance (not Whole Life insurance).  

Speak to your insurance broker on what insurance options would work best for your situation.

​

Investments

 

After you have your Emergency Fund in place, you might want to consider looking into investment options for other future savings. This can be done through RRSP's, GIC's, Tax-Free Savings Accounts, Stocks and Mutual Funds.

Speak to your financial advisor on what investment options would work best for your situation.

​

Work your plan

 

Thinking and doing all of this at once is overwhelming. You will have to take your time adjusting things in your financial plans so that they are produced to make your homeschooling affordable for your family situation. Parents with special needs children generally have a great concern of trying to build a foundation that will help their child financially for the rest of their lives and their goal is to make sure that their child understands to the best of their ability how money works in the real world.

Try to focus on making smart decisions with your money and don’t be afraid to change your spending patterns. Don’t quit and give up on your progress. Affordable homeschooling is achievable.

​