Most people tend to do at least some of their Christmas shopping at the last minute. This is why shopping centers and malls, and their parking lots, are packed full in the few days leading up to Christmas Day. Every store is filled with people looking for those perfect gifts. The closer to Christmas it gets, the more anxious and agitated the crowd becomes, and many of those people, in desperation, are now searching not for the perfect gift but just for an acceptable one.

Even though there is a whole year in which people can prepare for this festive season, and their New Year’s resolution may have been to do it earlier this time, many still leave their shopping to the last minute. Some people leave it this late because they enjoy the excitement of it, some because they have put it off, and others because they have no choice.

People who have no choice but to do their Christmas shopping at the last minute include college students, whose semester ends in mid to late December. Many of them do not have their own car and are living on campus during the semester, so shopping for Christmas any earlier is not possible. This is especially understandable when you remember that they have to work hard during early December for their finals, which are often worth 50% of their final grade. Mid December is when they take their finals, so they have to do their shopping for Christmas when the last final exam is over, and this means they find themselves doing it at the last minute, like it or not.

Many of the people who put off Christmas shopping have been to the stores during October and November, when they could easily have got their shopping done early. Instead, they spend their shopping time buying things for themselves, or just window shopping. They know Christmas is on its way, but don’t feel pushed to do anything about it until the last minute. Then they find themselves battling with the last minute Christmas shopping crowds.

Then there are the people who actually enjoy last minute Christmas shopping. Maybe they see it as something of a challenge, confident that they can find their perfect gifts in a short space of time.