Sooo......last minute shoppers....why?

[McManus1]

It's Christmas.....you have known about it for a year, why are you ordering gifts last minute or food on Christmas eve?

Genuine wonder.

The most sanctimonious Christmas post yet.

Yes I just dither without a looming deadline.

But equally it suits some people. The mad Christmas rush worked brilliantly for me during my university years. And I loved the buzz of working when it was busy. And many of my colleagues weren't Christian and we're glad of the extra hours and overtime pay.

Both I think. It's a vicious cycle because I always save money by getting things last minute.. however... having worked in retail in the past it can be awful at this time of year.

Everyone’s situation and finances are different. What does it matter?

I'm suspected ADHD, so seem to do everything last minute. Plus it's something that reminds me of my dad as he was from a generation that did everything on christmas eve. And I love a bargain.

My reasons are:

• I needed to wait until I got paid to get most stuff
• I have a small house and nowhere to store/hide Santa presents, so tend to get a babysitter for the kids on Christmas Eve during the day so I can shop, then I can hide the presents in the car boot, and wrap when they fall asleep
• it doesn't stress or bother me to do it the day before at all. I enjoy it and it feels festive being in the shops and wishing people merry Christmas

Because this year has been one of the worst in my entire life and I am struggling to survive.

Just because it's December 25th looming, doesn't mean I’ve suddenly risen above the overwhelm.

I wish it were different but it is not.

Because I don’t want to stock my fridge in advance? Not keen on substitutions with online shops. Got most things but thought of a couple of extra bits I need?
do you actually want the shops to close a week before Christmas - what’s your point ? Shops are open, people will use them.

You really can’t imagine how people might be so busy on a week to week basis that they don’t have time or bandwidth to plan & buy presents and food, until they absolutely have to?

We have got everything but I will be looking for a reduced turkey last thing tomorrow.

Because this year I couldn’t bring myself to buy anything out of guilt. Thousands of children being slaughtered in Gaza and I just didn’t feel like buying gifts or being organised. Had to do a bit of a day this past week but even then we’ve really scaled back in Christmas this year.

I normally buy two anti-perspirants at a time so thought I had a spare ...I didn't .
No-one wants to be near my un-adorned armpits at any time of year so I had to buy a couple .

And my DS's Badly Wrapped Present From the Cats . A Christmas Tradition.
(Got him a £20 note as the Cats have no imagination and they bought DD a nice TShirt for same value )

Because some people actually PLAN to do their shopping on Christmas Eve!?

I don’t need to wait until I have the room or money, nor do I work right up until Christmas Eve… but I always plan to do my Christmas shop on Christmas Eve morning as this is when I like to do it!

I always host on Boxing Day and the day after, and it means that things are still fresh for then and I don’t need to go back out to the shops until closer to the New Year (other than popping to a little Tesco Express). Plus the shops are usually much quieter on Christmas Eve than they are in the week prior.

To be honest, I don’t really understand why people do their Christmas shop much earlier - surely all of your veg, pastries etc. have started to go off by Christmas?

My mum wants a fruit basket... I can't really buy the fruit until Christmas eve (well today). I don't mind the madness of Christmas eve shopping, but worked in retail for years, so have experience of both sides

Some sales start on Christmas Eve or aFew days before so it makes sense. Sometimes people have very busy and difficult lives. I never understand why some people make Christmas out to be such a massive effort and stress. It seems to be people with not much else to do and make a meal of it. I'm wouldn't want to leave it until the day before with children if they wanted something specific but it would be easy enough to find something for 3 year old DS.

I shop when I feel like it. This year I felt like shopping yesterday. I don't count it as last minute until after 2pm on Christmas Eve.

I’m the other extreme and plan and shop well in advance. I admire people who can take it all in their stride, think on the spot, don’t get flustered or anxious if an ingredient is missing, and won’t forget a key gift because they’re too overwhelmed and overstimulated to read their list.

For me, early preparation is to compensate for my difficulties, and definitely not something I’m smug about.

And it doesn’t actually make me less anxious - I just spread it out over a longer period and overspend too.

Because DP didnt get the items i wanted when he did the shopping, even though i wrote a list.

If you've carefully bought everything and had it wrapped and organised for months how does it affect you that other people like to do things differently?

Judging by the discounts in our local Tesco yesterday, I wish we'd left more of it to the last minute. I only went in for milk and a newspaper, came out with two huge Playmobil sets that were 70% off!

Because some of us have quite busy jobs and can’t really think about Christmas till we’re off work and on Christmas annual leave.

We're not Christian and don't celebrate Christmas but I was in boots yesterday with DD who's finished college for the term and needed some lotions and potions.
We were just saying that if someone held their nerve and bought gifts on the 23rd, they're guaranteed to save 25 percent if not more.
Boots alone had some gifts reduced to anything between 25&35 percent, tk maxx had loads of gifts reduced by 50 percent. Supermarket was still stacked high with different cuts of meat and turkey.

Because I don't like to start Christmas prep until about a month before, then this year had a manic December with work and no time or headspace. My husband was the same so everything is a bit last minute, but it's fine.

Only going to the shops today to collect food. Can’t have a turkey sitting about in the house for much longer it’s too big!