In uncertain economic times like these, it's comforting to know you can still find items that are free. And one way to avoid going into debt this holiday season is to find free items to fulfill your own needs, thus freeing up your cash for holiday purchases.

The Internet reigns supreme when it comes to finding no-cost stuff. Sure, you might have to provide your e-mail address and sometimes a bit more information, and you might be put on a mailing list, but the end result is plenty of free goods and services.

FINANCIALS

Want to control your holiday shopping? www.FinancialRecovery.com offers a free holiday planner. This spreadsheet will help you track spending so you don't bust your budget.

www.Mint.com helps track everyday spending. It also categorizes trends and searches the Web for deals based on where you spend your money.

Meanwhile, www.Rudder.com is another free personal finance site that helps you take control of your spending. It tracks credit cards and bank accounts, and even offers free software aimed at helping people dig themselves out of debt. See the site.

ENTERTAINMENT

After Napster, free downloads died — but not for long. There are a number of ad-supported sites where you can download songs by musicians from Adam Ant to ZZ Top. One is www.SpiralFrog.com, offering more than one million songs and 4,000 music videos, all free.

Another music site, www.Pandora.com, bills itself as an online radio station that builds playlists from your preferences. For example, entering "Bob Dylan" brings up "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" followed by Neil Young's "Ohio (Live at Massey Hall)" and then "Imagine" by John Lennon.

If you're willing to watch television on your computer, you might be able to lower or eliminate your cable bill. For instance, you can watch everything from "My Favorite Martian" to "30 Rock," "Ugly Betty" and "Sons of Anarchy" for free at www.TV.Blinkx.com, a site in beta currently.

www.Hulu.com is another Web site offering free television shows and movies.

BOOKS AND GUIDES

If you'd rather read than watch TV, save money by checking out www.Free-eBooks.net. The site offers popular works, how-to guides, recipe books and more, including Adam Smith's 1776 tome, "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" which might be pertinent today.

At www.MrExcel.com you can download a free copy of "Learn Excel" by Bill Jelen, the self-proclaimed "Mr. Excel!" This is a book of more than 900 pages with 377 Excel tips. Jelen does caution: His book is designed for people who already use Excel 20 to 40 hours a week.

If you have always wanted to write a book, April Hamilton offers free, downloadable copies of her book, "The IndieAuthor Guide" at www.aprillhamilton.com/FreeIAG.html.

MIXED BAG

Almost everyone these days knows www.Craigslist.org, which offers free and barter listings online. For an alternative, try www.Freecycle.org, a rapidly growing online community where people post stuff for others to take, or ask for items they want.

There are a number of blogs that direct readers to free offerings, including Gayle Bu's www.AffluentPauper.com.

Gamers have a lot of options if they want to play without paying. Free online gaming sites include www.GamesCampus.com, www.TrueGamesInteractive.com, www.WickedInteractiveLtd.com, and www.G4box.com. They're great for folks who don't want to pay $40 to $60 for a new game CD.

Want to make free 411 directory information calls? Call Google's 1-800-GOOG-411. Troy Corley, editor at www.FreeFunGuides.com, said that's just one of the freebies you'll find at the site.

Another freebie Corley noted: A free education online from MIT through its OpenCourseWare, which offers about 1,800 courses: http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm.

If you just want to laugh out loud, check out www.Humoru.com. Ann Fry is a humorist and chief executive of www.Humoru.com, and just in time for the holiday season she is offering free holiday stress management teleconferences.