Unless you're digging out in Colorado or The Plains states, there's a darn good chance you've either already hit the mall today, or intend to later.
It turns out I am far from alone in my seasonal shopping procrastination. A survey conducted by has found that, with the Christimas deadline looming, 19 percent of shoppers still have not completed their to do lists.

And the people at the stores this weekend will be a distinct group: the under-40 crowd.
The good thing (economically speaking) about this late shopping surge, is that people are plunking down more money. CNBC's Holiday Central survey found that the average amount consumers plan to spend has jumped to $935, up $200 from two weeks ago.

And contrary to popular belief, men are outspending women...

with married men among the highest spending of any group in the survey, averaging $1,213 a piece according to CNBC.
What the survey doesn't tell you - is how much of that $1,213 they are spending on themselves. I don't know about you, but my husband always seems to come home with a few toys for himself.

I guess it beats me getting him the wrong gift.
Which brings us to the increasingly popular method of holiday giving, known as , a term which has been traced back to a 1995 episode of Seinfeld. CBNC's survey found that 1 in 10 of us admits to regifting this holiday season.

As CNBC's Erin Burnett told NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams last night, regifters tend to fall in three catagories:

-they earn more than $75,000 annually
-they live in the west
-they are democrats

Whoa - they've got me nailed!
However, researchers at (subscription required) found some slightly different trends among regifters: that people who prefer to shop in their closets rather than a store tend to be young professionals looking to cut both costs and time spent shopping.
But regardless of exactly who is regifting, there's no doubt it's a growing phenomenon.

In fact, a whole regifting industry has popped up - where else - on the web.
The reports that links to gifts, such as personalized iPods, that merchants claim 'will never be regifted.' allows customers to buy, sell or swap unwanted gift cards from more than 800 merchants.

offers advice on setting up a 'gift closet' of presents you intend to give to others. And that isn't even taking eBay into consideration!
Tips to keep your regifting from crossing the line into Tackyville can be found at , where you are invited to share your favorite regifting story as part of a contest.

Top stories get high ribbon ratings. It seems alot of people already have their holiday shopping finished, because there are 56 pages of regifting stories posted!
did a story this week about regifting.

The New York Times has done three regifting stories since Thanksgiving (all of which you can only read if you're a member of Times Select), as has and probably every other daily in the country. Which means if the mainstream media is all over it..

.it's bonifide old news.
But I'd better get a move on now - and go brave the wet streets and crowded stores to finish running my errands.

And here's a hint to my holiday-addled husband: Skip Best Buy, honey...

and head for a nice jewelry store.

Baubles, bangles, hear how they jing, jinga-linga
Whether it be a shopping horror story - or a hilarious regifting tale, click on Comments below and share it with us before you scury off on your next errand.