Frugal shoppers, penny-wise consumers and assorted cheapskates already know that Costa Rica is one of the most expensive countries in Latin America, which is why they need all the help they can get when it comes to saving their hard-earned colones (or dollars). The holiday season can be very tempting in terms of spending, but not for Costa Rica Gratis (Costa Rica of Free), an online network of money-savers that recently developed a special app.

The Costa Rica Gratis website promises to list more than 100 free cultural events at any given time. For example, last week they went to Bon ArtPetit at the Central Bank and ate free gourmet dishes festively garnished to celebrate the 200^th anniversary of the lovable city of San Jose. Another free event was yesterday’s Christmas Feast at the National Museum, which even featured Santa’s Workshop at the Democracy Plaza near downtown San Jose.

Free events are all over Costa Rica during the holiday season, and Costa Rica Gratis wants to make it even easier for you to find them with an Android-powered or HTML5 mobile device. The Navidad en Costa Rica mobile app is a special guide to finding free things to do and enjoy this holiday season. The Android app can be downloaded (for free, of course) from this link. Those with HTML5 mobile devices can download it from this link. Since the Apple iPhone is not really free (although you can get one from Movistar for just $20), this app is not yet available on that device.

The Navidad en Costa Rica app not only has up-to-date information on free stuff happening around the country, it also features news on how you can help the less fortunate in our country enjoy the holidays. This app will inform you about charitable events such as food and toy collections that you can contribute. For example, gifts for Casa de los Ninos will take place this weekend at the Cemaco in Plaza de las Flores in Heredia. The best things in life may be free, but nothing beats the good feeling you get when you brighten the holidays of those in need.