IT SEEMS most residents are leaving their Christmas shopping until the last minute as the start of the city's main street was a ghost town this afternoon.
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Marketplace shopping centre attracted most of the buzz, but even shoppers said it was not as busy as this time last year.
Tumut residents Liam Breed and Micaela Piper travel to Wagga for their big Christmas shop each year and found getting a car park was easy this afternoon.
"It wasn't that bad ... I think it depends on what time we come and we're probably in the safe zone, but a couple of days before Christmas will likely be crazy," Ms Piper said.
With Pizzazz owner Bronwyn Carlin said traffic has picked up within the last week but has noticed that people are spending less this Christmas.
"Our clothing is going very well for us, but a lot of our other Christmas gift-giving is down and we're finding a lot of people are either spending way less this year or that they're doing the Secret Santa or Kris-Kringle thing," Mrs Carlin said.
"People always leave their shopping to the last week ... those last few days before Christmas are the busiest."
However with the mercury set to soar by the end of the week, Mrs Carlin questioned whether the Christmas rush will be as big as previous years.
"We're travelling OK at the moment; we're quite pleased," she said.
"But, the gift-giving side of it is much less than last year; they're not spending a much on gifts this year."
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Mrs Carlin put this down to two different factors, including the feelings of uncertainty surrounding the drought.
"I think people are also starting to come to the realisation that they've got too much stuff and they don't need anymore stuff," she said.
"That's why all the giftware and the things we have are practical; it has to do something and not just look pretty.
"People are just starting to ease back on being over-the-top with their spending and are being a bit more sensible."
