How much does it cost?

That really is debatable. I spend about $3000 per year for five children. I buy some books. . .about $600 per year and then the rest gets spent on field trips, outside classes, manipulatives or ‘other materials’. I use the library for the bulk of my books though and only order what I can’t get from the library. I know people who spend more and those who spend less. You can homeschool really well for free or mostly free. (Some people wouldn’t include field trips in their budget, etc.)

You should read the following blog posts that cover this:
[URL="http://homeschooling.families.com/blog/a-homeschooler-and-their-money-will-not-be-parted"]A Homeschooler and Their Money will Not Be Parted?[/URL]
[URL="http://homeschooling.families.com/blog/a-homeschooler-and-their-money-dont-get-me-started"]A Homeschooler and Their Money: Don’t Get Me Started![/URL]
[URL="http://homeschooling.families.com/blog/a-homeschooler-and-their-money-will-gladly-be-parted"]A Homeschooler and Their Money will gladly be Parted?[/URL]
[URL="http://homeschooling.families.com/blog/the-cost-of-homeschooling"]The Cost of Homeschooling – Homeschool – Families.com[/URL]

You should–those are all excellent posts written on the subject. I would encourage though that really homeschooling costs what you can afford it to cost. If you don’t have a budget at all for buying books–you don’t need one. You can obtain oodles of stuff from the libraries. Most libraries now are connected to each other via internet which means that you can order any book you want in the system and have it delivered to your closest library–very nice feature that has the effect of expanding small libraries with limited resources.

Another thing to consider is joining a science or kid’s museum. At the onset you might think it’s expensive. . .and if you’re NEVER going to go it might be. But many science museums and/or children’s museums offer things like hands on kits to take home for members. That’s how I got use of a super fancy schmancy microscope and telescope last year. . .items that I would never be able to purchase.
Anyways, my point is where there is a will, there is a way. Kara–you probably realize this too–but I work from home (as does andrea) as a freelance writer. While granted I make less than I would be if I had a full time job, I do bring in some income and do decently.

yeah. . .but again if your budget is $0. . .you can do it on $0. Everyone has their different list of ‘must haves’. . .but you can homeschool for free. It doesn’t have to be expensive.

My personal favorite book for new homeschoolers is called the homeschool manual. Andrea has written a whole huge thing on a typical course of study. But honestly, if I were in your shoes. . .at the very, very beginning, I’d just pick out some good books and read to her. But since you have a few years, you have awhile to research and think about what makes sense to you. Any book that you check out for new homeschoolers will have a suggested course of study. (Oh and no, FL has no ‘required’ subjects.) In general, you will not want to get things through and from the BOE however, I will say that in both NY and CT I have found the BOE websites to be helpful in guaging where my kids are at and what they should be studying. Not that you have to follow it at all. . .but it can be one tool.

Kara, if you have a few years, then you are in really good shape. I started researching homeschooling when my oldest was 3. At the time we lived in GA and were supposed to start HSing when she turned 6, but then we moved to PA and got a reprive, so we don’t have to formally enroll her until next year when she is 8. But by the time she turned 6, I was felt confident I could do it!
I am a big reader, so I read a ton about HSing. I searched the library for ‘education’ books, any time someone referenced one book in another (the homeschooling manual, I think, lists about a zillion others) I reserved it, I would randomly google ‘home school’ or ‘homeschool’ and read whatever came up, etc. As I said, I had a good 2-3 years to do all this, so while it sounds like a lot, it was very spread out. At the same time, I watched my kids’ learn “little” things and paid attention to how they seem to learn best or easily – songs are a favorite, for instance, with my group; we make them up and then love to sing them. We are doing a “test” year to get ready for submitting, and I feel comfortable.

All of that is free, courtesy of the public library. In fact, most of our “curriculumn” comes from the public library. If you like to own books, a great source is [URL="http://www.bookfinder.com"]www.bookfinder.com[/URL], which lists book sales in your area (read: cheap books). I actually found some older elementary math text books at the last sale for my daughter for several grades. She loves worksheets, so I figured these would be a pleasent surprise! We work from them on occasion and try to integrate math into “everyday” often. With four kids and a SAHM, we strive to keep HSing inexpensive.
The more time you take to explore the idea now, the more you can minimize costs. For instance, if you know you want to get math manipulatives, you can spread them out over the preceeding years and let your little ones start playing with them now (my 3 year old loves the cuis. rods, etc).