Handcrafted Artisan

So it's that time of year...looking for next years homeschool materials...
So I thought that I would share my ways of trying to find the best deals.
1. I figure out what I want to do. A big part of this is figuring out what kind of history I want to do since a lot of curriculums base their stuff on what History cycle they do. Also learning styles and types of curriculum.
2. look to the curriculum what books do I need?
How much do they cost from the company?
Does my library have them?
3. once that is exhausted I start the search...
  My fav used book sites
-paperbackswap.com
-dealoz.com ( search engine that searches for the book for you)
-Barnesandnoble.com
-abe books

4. list out the books that I still need if not found at the library or super cheap
-list prices from various sites
-take said list to used book sales and Homeschool convention

if after all of that I am not able to find it cheaper then I purchase it from the curriculum provider...

Hope that helps some of you newer homeschoolers out there....

Happy Book finding....