Form a buyer’s co-op

This week was just jam-packed with things to do, from swimming to homeschool skating, our homeschool co-op to a trip to some caverns. One of our highlights, however, was finally checking out an educational kit from the botanical gardens. These kits are normally $20 each for rental, but we joined a homeschool buyers’ co-op and for just $5, we are renting kits for the entire year. And these are quality kits, folks! It’s definitely the best $5 we’ve spent all year.

This is why people form homeschool buyer co-ops. You can do it for just about anything, from book clubs to magazines, food subscriptions to kit rentals and much more. To organize your buyer co-op, just call or e-mail the people you want to join up with and tell them what you want to buy. Decide how much it’s going to cost per person and get as many people to join with you as possible to keep the price as low as possible.

If you don’t live around other homeschoolers, try an online co-op. They won’t include the local resources you want, but you can get curriculum, computer programs, subscriptions and other discounts by joining up with other buyers online. Some of them cost to join while others allow you to reap the savings on only the things you want to buy into. Others also provide you with a free trial to decide whether or not you wish to join.

How have you used buyers’ cooperatives in your life, homeschooling or otherwise? Have any good tips to share?

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia