Many await better deals before shopping

SALT LAKE CITY — If you're still picking out gifts this last full week before Christmas, you're one of a sizable crowd holding out hope for extraordinary last-minute deals.

Two-thirds of consumers are still shopping, half of those because they believe the best deals are yet to come, according to the American Express Spending and Saving Tracker released Monday. One-third of them expect to spend more over the next month than they did in the last 30 days.

It's a combination of deliberate and accidental: almost 20 percent are still saving up to make purchases, and 10 percent plan to shop after-Christmas sales to buy presents for those on their lists.

For some, like Linda Aagard, it's a matter of finding time to shop.

"Although every year I vow to do it differently, I never start Christmas shopping until after Thanksgiving," said the spokeswoman for the Huntsman Cancer Institute. "And I don't stop until the stores throw me out Christmas Eve."

More than a quarter of shoppers told America's Research Group they will finish shopping just before Christmas, a time they expect to find the deepest price cuts. If Aagard really is shopping that late, she's apt to find herself among some customers who say they actually wait until Dec. 24 to start shopping.

Tia Korologos wants to be done before then. But she thought she was finished before and realized she almost overlooked someone. "Whoops," she said ruefully. "I'm still shopping."

The days just before the holiday are the time, experts say, when budget-constrained shoppers who have controlled themselves pretty well start wavering in their determination not to overspend. Mackey McNeill, of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, said now's the time to do a quick reality check and see if you're still on target with your original gift-giving budget, if it needs revising or if, like Korologos, you need gifts for people not on the original list.

Jenna Keehnen sees the wreckage from overdoing in a tough economy. The director of the U.S. Organizations for Bankruptcy Alternatives is a national expert on what she calls "enjoying a white Christmas while in the red." USOBA members are debt-relief agencies, and Christmas, she said, is "probably the worst time of year for spending habits. People put more and more things on credit cards. Some stop paying bills so they can buy gifts. And who doesn't want their child to have the latest and greatest?"

When you've shown largesse in good economic times, it's hard to set limits. But reduce the financial impact of the holiday so you can enjoy it, she said. Limit dollar amounts or the number of people you buy for. Have secret Santa and white elephant gift exchanges. Or draw a name and make it an even nicer-than-usual gift and still save money. And "one good regift you know someone will enjoy is worth 10 bath scrub sets."

Especially this late in the season, have a plan as well for how you intend to pay it off if you are using credit cards, she said.

The U.S. Department of Commerce says U.S. retail spending this November reached $352.2 billion, up 1.3 percent from October and a 1.9 percent increase over November 2008.

The American Express survey was based on 2,005 American adults, including the general population and two subgroups, those with household income of at least $100,000 and young professionals.

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