Anyone find Christmas shopping difficult?

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This is exactly how I feel.. I'm not much of one for owning things that aren't necessary anyway, and if I wanted it, stands to reason I would have already bought it....

If I get gifts for people I want it to be used, I think this year it will be disposable-style things, like food or nice coffee or somesuch, done up in a pretty way.

I wish I could just be honest, tell people I don't want a gift at all, and not have to get them one. With people I am closest to I do try to convince them of this.

For anyone who can't stand holiday shopping because of lot of people:


Try doing it on weekdays instead. There is a lot less people so the stores and malls aren't very crowded. But do it during the day, I'm sure it be packed in the evening because kids are out of school and people are off work.

Shopping is one of my pet phobias.

Even buying work supplies i obsess a bit about finding the best value, but that could be due to penury lol
I'm also very adept at wanting out of stock items, or touring several stores to find a good price then returning to find them sold out.
Christmas and birthday shopping are a nightmare.
Try to work out what anyone else wants?... how the hell can i do that when i don't know what I want?
It gets worse when i get told what they DON'T want.
And for some perverse reason, i don't like giving recipient specified gifts. I presume presents are supposed to signify that you've thought about the person they're intended for.

Luckily(?)... i have very few people left to get presents for.

store its self is the hard part for me. Crowded stores are REALLY uncomfortable for me, small places (or large places with tables or shelves or other stuff taking up lots of room) with lots of people freak me out. It is the one time when medicated or not my aspie-ness shows up. The shopping itself can be okay (sometimes even fun it really depends on my mood) but doing that shopping with zero sense of personal space.. *shudders* ...I can't do that. Generally it makes me get really irritated at my sisters for being anywhere near me especially if they are blocking and escape route, in normal uncrowed store conditions I'm much more tolerant unless they are just being irritating in which case they deserve it.

This year, I actually managed to finish all my shopping last week. I find that if you do your shopping on the weekdays when most people are at work or school, there's less crowds.

Argh, yes, I really worry about them liking the presents or not.

YES. I do my shopping eather at the local walmart or online. Next year everything will be done online, walmart was hell on earth and I spent 90 mins looking for stuff for my sister and father, my mother got something from online. Tons of people, hard to find what I am looking for and for some reason some clerk was trying to get me to purchase a plasma TV, kept telling me it was only $99 she absolutly had to be insane, i told her I would think about it and avoided that section for the rest of my time their.

That's why I have so much trouble deciding what to buy. Little kids and babies seem to be the easiest ones to buy for.