Frugal Living: Plan ahead and enjoy frugal holiday fun

Plan ahead for the upcoming holidays. If buying gifts or supplies far in advance isn't your thing, you can still think about ideas for free and low-cost ways to enjoy the season.

What frugal activities or traditions have you done during the holiday season? Here are a few ideas.

Puzzles: Pick up a jigsaw puzzle and put it together with friends and family. You don't have to finish it in one night. Leave it out during the holidays. It's a great way for everyone to sit together and talk.

Concerts and plays: Look for upcoming free or low-cost concerts and plays. They're often held in schools and churches. As you search for upcoming concerts, you're bound to come across free community events, such as tree-lighting ceremonies, living nativities, festivals and parades.

Volunteer: Give back to your community. Find volunteer opportunities at www.volunteermatch.org or call local nursing homes or shelters to find out how you can help. Or visit www.anysoldier.com to send a care package or a letter to a soldier. You can donate to Angel Tree, Operation Christmas Child or Toys for Tots, too.

Nature center: Call and ask about winter hikes, walking tours or snowshoeing. You might be pleasantly surprised by the workshops and clubs that meet and activities that are offered during the winter months.

Library: Many libraries offer book clubs, movie nights and crafts. Some libraries offer writers' workshops, business seminars and computer classes, as well.

Swap party: You can host a swap party to exchange toys, clothes, cookies, books, household items or almost anything. Or have everyone bring ingredients for gingerbread houses. While you're gathering swap items, declutter and sell anything you no longer want to boost your Christmas fund.

State parks: Many state parks have special seasonal offerings. Check local listings to find out upcoming events.

Stockings: Don't think that it's necessary to stuff stockings with toys or candy. One reader, Sarah from Illinois, shares: "As for stocking stuffers, when I was young, we had a few things put in our stocking, but mostly Santa stocked them with fresh fruit (oranges, apples and bananas). We then took our fresh fruit and made a fruit salad for Christmas breakfast. I realize that this also saved my parents money from having to stuff our entire stocking with presents. So we do the same for our kids!"

Outdoor fun: Ice skate, build a snowman, go sledding, feed winter birds or see holiday lights.

Television: Set the DVR. Many family favorites are featured during ABC Family's "25 Days of Christmas." Another reader, Polly from Pennsylvania, shares: "We do our own kind of Advent. It's more of a counting-down-the-days-until-Christmas kind of thing. We watch a tape of a Christmas special, one each night as we count down. Everyone has their favorite. We make a big deal out of it. I put out cookies or special cakes and serve homemade eggnog or hot chocolate, too. It's lots of fun." Have a family campout in the living room, too.

Elf on the shelf: With a retail price of $25, this is a terrific holiday tradition to start in your home. The little elf lives in your home and watches and listens to what goes on, and he reports to Santa each night. When he returns, he lands in a new location in your home and friends and family have to find out where he landed. For more information, visit www.elfontheshelf.com.

Clearly, the most frugal of readers can modify this tradition and spend less.

International traditions: Read about traditions from around the world and see if you'd like to add any. Visit tlc.howstuffworks.com/family/christmas-traditions-around-the-world-ga.htm for a listing. One of our traditions is Christmas pinatas. Instead of it being a game to play while blindfolded, we hide small gifts and treats inside. This is a creative way to give new socks and underwear to kids. We use it to hold any gift cards, batteries, and small items such as hair clips or money they receive, so these don't get lost in the shuffle, too.

Remove paint from carpet

Dear Sara:I spilled some acrylic paint on my carpet while doing a craft. (I had put newspaper down, but I dropped the bottle when I went to put the cap on.) How do I get it off? The carpet is less than a year old! - Dianne, Florida

Dear Dianne: First, try a wet washcloth. Set it on top of the stain. Leave it for an hour and then blot the stain. If you notice the stain is lifting, do it again. If this doesn't work, you can use a mixture of laundry detergent and water or dish washing liquid (Dawn, for example) and water (1/2 teaspoon to a quart of water), or use rubbing alcohol.

Test it on an inconspicuous area or a scrap of carpet first. Don't pour this onto your carpet. Apply it with a cloth and blot, working from the outside of the stain into the center of the stain. Another option is to use a solution that cleans acrylic paint brushes. Your local craft store should sell a product called EZ Air Acrylic Brush Cleaner. Mix half water and half the cleaner in a container. Blot the carpet stain.

Dear Sara: I think I may want to join a diet website, but I refuse to have to pay money for it. Do you know of a good free diet website? - Shoiji

Dear Shoiji: Try FitDay.com, SparkPeople.com, Livestrong.com (www.livestrong.com/thedailyplate) or MyFitnessPal.com. I can't tell you which will work best for you. That will be different for everyone. I'd give them each a look and decide which you prefer. You might enjoy using a combination of two websites to get community support from multiple sources.

Dear Sara: What can you use instead of coffee filters? We ran out of coffee filters today and I thought I remembered there is something else that people use in lieu of real coffee filters. - Q.M., Canada

Dear Q.M.: If you have a used filter in your coffee maker, you can rinse it and use it again. You can use a paper towel in a pinch, but this tends to allow loose grounds to pass into the coffee maker and it can get messy. I have a reusable filter that I really like. You could make a cloth filter or drawstring pouch out of cheesecloth, hemp, unbleached muslin or any loose-weave cotton. Use a paper filter as your pattern or visit www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Reusable-Coffee-Filter and www.instructables.com/id/Make-Reusable-Teabags-and-Coffee-Filters for tutorials on both types of cloth coffee filter patterns.

More expensive options are investing in a French press or Keurig coffee maker. This will allow you to make smaller individual cups of coffee without needing a filter at all, and you can enjoy your coffee made in a variety of ways.