Festive chocolate in first week of September - grim.

[OtraCosaMariposa]

My local Tesco on Friday started filling its shelves with selection boxes and chocolate reindeer.

A full 15 weeks until Christmas.

Cards on the table - I loathe all the tat around Christmas, It depresses me that people get caught up with the buy buy buy mentality pushed on them by the retailers. It depresses me that every time I walk into a shop for the next 4 months I am confronted by the tat. It's impossible to avoid it and I hate it.

Doesn’t bother me and it’s nothing new, people have been complaining about Christmas displays in September since my Saturday job in the 90s. In fact, probably a lot of the population can’t remember a time when the months leading up to Christmas wasn’t a load of plastic tat and hype about must-buy toys.

Its not grim OP, you are grim!

"So personally I'd still say shops selling cards in August is unnecessary, as I can never understand why you'd pay full price for them in August when you could get them at 25% of the price in January..."

Because those that have to buget are coping with the children being off school (so no free school meals) and extra cost for heating. Re heating, when you're struggling you have to think ahead and January can be the coldest month, on a pre payment meter, you pay as you use. People also have extra child care costs.

Then there's Easter and saving towards the summer school break.

Some posters really don't have have a clue what life is like for many people.

I was a bit like that. I can remember a neighbour telling me that she'd started shopping for Christmas and i made a comment about it being early. She then said, you don't have to because you know the money is there. I was oblivious to the stress it caused to others.

I just bought 2 boxes of Matchmakers in Tesco today-"Quality Street Limited Edition" One is Gingerbread flavour, and the other is Maple and Pecan.

Because it's the volunteers who man the till and have to stand facing a fixture of cards for 6 months of the year. Because it's the volunteers who have to put up with the comments about how ridiculous it is to have cards out in August. And because the charity concerned makes a big song and dance about its volunteers being a valuable resource, empowered and as much a part of the business as the one member of paid staff in the shop.

Anyone who works in retail, sees the same displays everyday, puts up with comments from customers (means, crap jokes etc) and every retailer says their employees are so valuable and want their input.

Then make the final decision.

Here is an argument for you, the chocolate companies need to get all the ingredients and different moulds etc for the christmas range, which costs money, they start selling them early to make it worth their while doing it.

It's quite late actually. I've seen them on there in August before. A photo popped up on my FB feed a few weeks ago from three years where I had commented on it. Almost as annoying as hit cross buns in Asda the day after New Year's Day. I did a FB post on that too so no doubt that will come up in January.

I love seeing Christmas things in the shops now. Gets me in the cosy Christmas mood

Noticed mince pies in Asda. We haven't had Hallowe'en yet.

Hot cross buns are available all year round though, aren't they? They have moved from being an Easter thing to an all year round thing.

You can get the ordinary ones all year-they tend to only bring the exotic flavours out at Easter.