Why do people spend more at Christmas?

Right now the reality of Christmas is simply this, the fact that Christmas has become so commercialized keeps prices of gifts and food and all other festive things at premium prices at the end of the year, as companies know this is where they end up getting their best margins, so they simply take advantage of it.<br><br>Add this to the fact that Christmas has a certain atmosphere and most people have days off work during Christmas, so they've got more time and money to spend at the end of the year.<br><br>This means there is no need to buy anything before December, as the reality is that you've got premium prices for 11 months, and then a period of time with slightly discounted prices, so any shopping you do before December will just be money down the drain, as the prices will always be higher as companies know that you're also more likely to impulse buy things before December as well, as it's the festive season and you've got more free time and money.<br>In fact, during Christmas, the prices are so inflated that it doesn't even make sense to end up missing out on the buy one get one free, or 3 for 2 deals, as the products are at the cheapest price possible, and you're not actually getting anything extra that's free, it's just that you get 3 for the price of 2.<br>This is because buying 2 items at the inflated Christmas prices will be more expensive than buying 3 at the inflated prices, so you're not really getting anything free when you're getting more for less. <br><br>During the entire year, companies just increase the prices of everything, and then at Christmas, they pretend like they're giving you discounts, when in reality they just slightly drop the prices to what they should've been in the first place, and that's the reason why some years you'll find that Christmas shopping is more expensive than others, it's just because of inflation and the fact that the prices have been rising for 11 months to make sure that the profits are as high as possible. <br><br>The reality is that people are just buying more things overall because it's Christmas and they want to get presents for people, so we just end up overspending, because we've got some disposable income and free time, so we go out more, we buy more, we impulse buy, and we end up spending way more than we actually need to.<br>You only really need to buy presents for people, and then decorations, lights, and possibly a tree, and there's actually no need to spend as much as you do.<br>Right now, where I am there is a huge Christmas market, and I can guarantee that there are plenty of people there buying random stuff they don't even need just because it's Christmas, and everyone's just caught up in the hype, so this is why Christmas shopping can end up costing so much, it's just the fact that the prices are higher than usual and we end up buying random stuff even if we don't need it, because it's Christmas.