• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, December 21, 2010

While consumers often take their time finishing up their Christmas shopping, looks like there are better excuses this year. Besides continued worries about their own finances (after all, it's no accident that Merriam-Webster just made "austerity" the No. 1 word of the year, and that "pragmatic" came in second), many are convinced that the longer they wait, the lower the prices will go.

PriceGrabber, owned by a Experian, surveyed consumers and as late as Dec. 7, found that 43% were planning on shopping right up until the whistle this year, with 41% of those saying it is because they are sure they can get better prices in the Dec. 21 to 24 framework.

And in a poll by Eversave, a couponing site, 91% of shoppers, say they are finding this year's last minute sales to be better than--or at least as good as--last year's.

Nielsen Co. reports that 46% of Americans are shopping this week, with 20% of those doing so in order to take advantage of last-minute deals. About 40% use the evergreen excuse that they are just too busy. And about 18% say they do it because they enjoy shopping that last week of Christmas.