Thank you for visiting my professional site. I’m Sara Tetreault, the creator of Go Gingham Stylishly Frugal Living. I enjoy traveling, eating good food, decorating my home, and wearing cashmere. With home swapping, cooking at home, and buying items second-hand, I’m living well and saving in style.
I love to save money and the sweet spot where green and frugal living come together is my favorite. That’s where good for the environment equals good for my wallet.
Why Go Gingham?
I love gingham fabric and sewing, which is where the “gingham” came from. Gingham fabric is old-fashioned and cheerful ~ kind of like me. The “go” part is where I hope to inspire you with my stylishly frugal ways.
Go Gingham came to be as a way of sharing that living well and simply with style, can cost less in money, resources, and time. Topics I share about:
- budgeting and money management tips
- home and garden DIY projects for decorating, entertaining, and gift giving
- family life with a focus on slow living
- cooking delicious and healthy food at home (without a microwave – since we don’t have one)
- home organization, homemaking, and meal planning
- traveling with kids and on a budget
My experience is in living this way as a wife, mother, and homemaker. I worked for the Polo/Ralph Lauren Corporation for many years and any time someone said, “I’m throwing this in the trash!” my ears would perk up.
I’m not afraid to climb in a dumpster, wield a power tool, or install a toilet. On any day, you’ll find me wearing second-hand clothing and a smile.
About me personally….
For the last 22 years, I’ve been married to my college sweetheart. He’s a very behind the scenes guy and lets me have the limelight. We’re living well on less so we can save our money rather than spend it. We’re regular people who have done simple and as it turns out smart things with our finances. Even though the economic downturn has touched our family, we’re finding our way by thriving in thrift.
We have two kids who are now teenagers. Now that they have their own opinions, they have forbidden me from using their names on my site. If you meet them and ask about Go Gingham, they’ll probably roll their eyes and deny knowing anything about it.
We live in a modest home that we’ve renovated ourselves and it’s mostly done. We still have a list of projects to finish. We live in the city where we can walk and ride our bikes places but I don’t like riding my bike in the rain. We have a small yard with a vegetable garden and 3 backyard chickens. They’re our pets with benefits.
While we live frugally, we also indulge. Traveling the world is our indulgence.
By home swapping, our family has traveled to Europe 4 times and we’ve done 4 home exchanges in the U.S. as well. This spring we’ll head to Canada for our 9th exchange. Home swapping is a great way for families to travel.
You can contact me here or by e-mail: hello at sara tetreault.com
