Cheektowaga, N.Y. (WBEN) - With less than a week left until Christmas, many across Western New York will be making their way out-and-about to get their last-minute holiday shopping done to find that certain someone a special gift this holiday season.
However, given the current economy and inflation, are holiday shoppers feeling the financial pinch this season? Are habits changing for shoppers, as they find those last-minute gifts for loved ones?
For some shoppers like Phalyn Kazmierczak from Lancaster, she has cut out shopping for some family members this Christmas.
"I am no longer exchanging with adults, I'm doing just kids this year," said Kazmierczak in an interview with WBEN. "That's where I want to put my main focus. They're fun. It's fun for the kids at Christmas to open up what they want, so instead of buying my brother something, I'm buying his children something."
For Luis from Hamburg, there's one habit he has changed this year, and that was saving up a bit earlier this year to shop for his family.
"The things I want to get like toys or jewelry for family members are becoming a little bit more expensive. That's certainly why I don't want to spend a fortune on Christmas gifts," said Luis with WBEN. "It is something I have seen differently, but I'm still managing to get everyone's Christmas gifts on time, everyone being happy."
One thing that Megan from Buffalo did this year to help her holiday shopping was to take care of some items off the list much earlier than usual.
"I started a lot sooner this year. Definitely started, like, mid-summer to get the little things, and now we're almost done," shared Megan with WBEN.
Meanwhile, others like Gifford and Jane Lawrence from Beamus Point feel like nothing much has changed with their shopping habits this holiday season.
"We're retired, so the inflation thing hasn't really affected us that much. We're just the two of us, we typically buy things for our grandchildren, but I don't think it's changed much," said Lawrence in an interview with WBEN.
"I'll be spending just about the same amount as I spent last year. Everything will stay the same. It depends on the person," added Teri Syarcuse from Hamburg.
For many holiday shoppers, the list of people to take care of this year is smaller than maybe in years past.
"We have pretty small families, so we just shop for everybody: Mom, dad, sister and then our kids," Megan said.
"I buy for around four or five people, and the limit I typically set myself is like $200 a person, at most. But if needed to, I can always go over by like $100, if needed," Luis shared.
"We just buy for our family, and fairly modest expenditures, probably not more than $100 a kid, something like that," Lawrence added.
As for Syracuse, she says she's cut out shopping for friends, unless it's something she finds they will absolutely love.
"I'm pretty much keeping with my same traditions of buying certain people a certain gift, and they get the same gift every year. Everybody knows to expect it, they love it, and I'm sticking with that," Syracuse said.
Even with some holiday shoppers tightening up their shopping habits this year, many of them didn't necessarily feel any additional stress to their holiday ventures.
"It's actually been the same, in my opinion. Especially on Black Friday, it is less crowded, it means there's more options you choose from," Luis said.
For others, some of that stress goes away with the availability of Amazon and other online websites to tackle some of the heavy lifting.
"I did a lot more online shopping this year, looking for deals that way than going out and shopping in person," Megan admitted. "This is our first time to the mall, and probably be our last one, too."
"Amazon and all the online purchases have kind of taken away the historical hustle-and-bustle and crowds, and the colorful things downtown, because you can sit in your pajamas at your computer and do all your Christmas shopping. It's not really an event, it's just something that you do. When we were growing up many, many years ago, it was a big thing," Lawrence added. "The flip side of that, it's great because it opens up the whole world to you. So if you want to sit in your pajamas and buy something, you can just do that. It's good and bad."
So what habits this year may become a new long-term tradition for holiday shoppers? For Luis, shopping for his parents just got a bit easier.
"I used to spend, like, $700-$800 on earrings, and she said, 'I have enough. I really don't need this crazy amount.' Just being with her is good enough with her, so I really thank her for that," he said. "Just need to buy something small from the stores, and my brother and sister, who are 16 and 5-years-old, I still buy them gifts from stores."
As for Kazmierczak, her family will be looking to go more towards doing a "White Elephant" gift exchange with the adults for Christmas.
"My dad's side of the family, it's all adults. No one has kids yet. My brother has his kids, but we're gonna discuss pulling names next year, only buying one person something. That's gonna be the topic for this year, because when you don't have kids to buy for and it's just adults, it's kind of like a gift card exchange, and that's not fun," Kazmericzak said.