Author: cheaplify

Anna is a 35-year-old special eduction teacher of middle school students with severe and profound disabilities. She lives in rural Illinois and is currently working on completing her master’s degree in education. In the future, she’d like to move into a different teaching position that’s hopefully more lucrative since she doesn’t make enough at her […]

Gigi the dog A question I’ve been getting a lot lately: “What happened to your dog???” I get this question via email, through blog comments, on Instagram, Facebook and in person. It’s taken me awhile to put together my response because it’s a painful one. But today, I’m ready to share. The Tail of Genevieve […]

Celebrating Tet in Hoi An Laura and her husband Ethan are from Philadelphia, PA, but have been living in Hanoi, Vietnam for the past two years. Ethan teaches English literature at an international school and Laura is earning her Master’s degree in public health. They’ve loved their time in Vietnam and plan to be there […]

Before: weird arched wall separating kitchen & dining room from living room A menace wall in our home is gone! Longtime readers may recall that we’ve embarked on a slow, years-long renovation process, which we kicked off with a wall removal. This erstwhile wall awkwardly divided the kitchen and dining room from the rest of […]

Kat and her husband Jay live in the Okinawa Prefecture of Japan where Jay is stationed as a Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps. They are childfree by choice and have an adorable dog named Sadie. Although they’re just 29, they’ve been diligently saving, investing and planning for the date when Jay gets out of […]

As you may have noticed, things look different around here! Turns out, there’ve been some advancements in web design in the nine years since I started Frugalwoods. No one will be surprised to hear that the old website was looking a bit, well, old. And so, I hired an incredible designer who created a brand […]

Last weekend was ye olde county fair here in Vermont and, of course, we were on the scene to cuddle cows (if you’re Kidwoods) and look askance at cows (if you’re Littlewoods). The county fair also provides a panorama of consumerism. So much to buy, so little time! Annoying, but a fantastic opportunity to practice […]

Brian and Michael, both 34, live with their two cats in central Connecticut. Michael works as a project coordinator for a state behavioral health agency serving young people and has a side job as an advocate and disability leadership coordinator. Brian is a quality assurance manager for a state-run hospital. The couple’s been together since 2013 […]

I’m still here! I took an unplanned (and therefore unannounced) break from writing the blog, which was intended to be for a week, but expanded to a month and then two months… WHOOPS. I confess I needed some time off from ye olde Frugalwoods after consistently posting for 9.5 years. That’s the longest I’ve ever […]