Holiday shopping on pace to beat 2010

Hampden, Md - So what are you buying this Christmas?

Is your list long?

"Oh my gosh!  I got a big family so I got like seven aunts? So I have to buy for my aunts, my goddaughter, my child, my cousins." Teresa Hewlin says.

Are you walking down the avenue with bags in your hand.”

Or waiting for the UPS and Fex Ex?

“I did a lot online this year. The free shipping and sometimes the better deals so you don't have to shop around." Helen Delany says.

"I like to shop in the stores by myself so no one can see what I'm getting." Nicole Kurowski says.

Although three of the busiest days are yet to come, consumers here and nationwide are keeping pace with a seasons that the National Retail Federation says should show modest gains this year.

Sales that are trending up in an economy that still has a lot of volatility and uncertainty in it.

Overall sales so far are up three point eight percent over last year.....online shopping is up close to eight percent...marking the largest gain and largest year for online shopping ever.

Close to eleven percent of you are waiting until to shop over the next three days, Thursday, Friday and Christmas Eve.

"The later it gets the pricier it gets because the normal stuff goes out of stock so I wind up at Tiffany's on Christmas Eve." Robert Delany says.

But what shoppers are spending is another matter.

The average person will spend about $515 dollars this year on gifts alone, that's down about 25 dollars from last year.

But people are spending more on food 96 dollars up about three percent.

But some of the real holiday shopping isn't done for the benefit of others, more than 60 percent of people shopping this season are buying stuff for themselves.

Add in things like holiday lights, the wrapping and other assorted holiday expenses and experts predict this season will surpass last year...even though gift giving expenses are kind of flat.

 “Probably the same amount that I always spent. Just enough to go around to everybody in my family. Hewlin says.

Here's another figure to remember.

Three out of ten people that own smart phones and tablet computers have used them to make purchases online for the holidays.

This is a trend that's being recorded for the first time this year....and its expected grow tremendous next year.