The mom blogger at beingfrugal.net has this list of things to do for the holiday season “50 Frugal Christmas Ideas.”

I’ve done:

• 2. Make an Advent wreath. (I found my Christmas notes from last year, which includes a note that the Advent centerpiece needs replacing.)
• 13. Pick up some library books and study Christmas traditions in other countries. (You may find an explanation on that long-standing family tradition that nobody remembers when or why it got started.)
• 20. Invite some friends or family over for dinner. (My goal is to host one social event between Thanksgiving and Super Bowl Sunday. For many years, this was a dessert party on the first Saturday of December. Three years ago, we hosted a turkey dinner. Last year, I hosted a college football bowl party. I will probably host another dinner this year.)
• 23. Attend your Christmas tree lighting ceremony. (Downtown Monroe is packed with people on tree-lighting night. It will be Friday Nov. 16.)
• 25. Learn the history of Santa. (Yes, as the blogger said, this is a fascinating story. You would be surprised as to what is, or is not, in the Santa legends in other countries.)
• 26. Track Santa on NORAD. (My nieces and nephews were fascinated by this when I introduced them to the web site.)
• 37. Make your own Christmas cards. (This idea may not be as frugal as you think. I did this for two years in a row. It took way more time than I expected, and realized it was less expensive to buy cheap pre-made cards. I’m a crafter who handmakes all other greeting cards our family sends out, so I’m certainly capable of doing the Christmas pile. I just choose not to.)
• 45. Fix a special Christmas breakfast. (With all the appearances and appointments we have at other people’s homes during Christmas break, Christmas breakfast has become what I do for my own household.)
• 50. Go to a Christmas Eve service. (Midnight Mass is certainly lovely, but it’s also the only time we can block off to attend holiday services as a family. I’ve heard many of the local late afternoon Christmas Eve services are standing room only with young families; I imagine it’s probably the only service that they can get to as well!)

Now … about those Christmas concerts, tree lightings and church services. There will be plenty of events to choose from in Monroe County, and a lot of them are FREE or very low cost. The announcements for the Christmas season have just started to arrive at The Monroe Evening News, and more show up every day in our e-mail, fax and mail. They will show up in the print edition on the Community Page, Arts & Entertainment and Church page sections.

We also cross-post those event notices in the MonroeTalks calendar. It’s a searchable database. Here’s a search that I pre-set for Nov. 10-Jan. 6 on “Holiday Events,” and a search that I have pre-set for Dec. 1-Jan. 6 on “Religion.”