It’s the most wonderful time of the year…well, at least for a plurality of adults it is. According to the most recent Rasmussen Reports survey, 47% of Americans consider this holiday season joyous. A slightly less percentage (44%) however, regard the holiday season as stressful. Interestingly enough, more Republicans (61%) deem the season more joyous than Democrats (39%).

Along with the stress of the holiday season, comes the stress of holiday shopping. So far, 53% of adults say they’ve started their holiday shopping. That’s up from 45% a week ago. Forty-five percent (45%) admit, however, that they haven’t even begun.

Meanwhile, 81% say they have yet to finish their shopping. Sixteen percent (16%) are on the ball and have completed their shopping altogether.

When it comes to spending, half (50%) of adults say they will spend less on gifts than they did last year. That’s compared to 22% who say they’ll spend more and 26% who claim they’ll spend about the same as they did last year.

According to the Discover ® Consumer Spending Monitor (SM), as many as 55% of consumers said they would spend less this year than last, while 43% said they would spend the same or more.

Finally, 51% of adults declare they’ll do at least some of their gift shopping online. This includes 5% who will do all of their shopping online. Forty-eight percent (48%) aren’t making any gift purchases on the Internet.

As shoppers migrate to malls or convenience stores, 67% prefer stores to use the phrase “Merry Christmas” in their seasonal advertising rather than “Happy Holidays.”

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