It's shaping up to be an outdoor Christmas for many Kiwis, a list of most searched for items on popular auction site Trade Me suggests.

With summer upon us, our attentions shift not only to weather forecasts, but also on how best to scorch a piece of Bambi as the BBQ season kicks into high gear.

New Zealanders have been spending up on food and liquor in the lead up to Christmas, according to Paymark, which says spending through its network during the first seven days of December was up almost nine per cent on the same week the year before.

According to Toyworld, the top 10 toys for Christmas include back-to-the-future Cabbage Patch Kids, Furby toys, LeapPad Ultras, and Robo Fish.

Dozens of online subscription businesses have popped up offering to ship boxes of different goodies within a given niche or theme.

I swear I only visited for observation's sake. Not to peruse the specials or to buy so much as a bauble, but to examine why human beings would spend America's great holiday scrounging for savings on the department store floor.

Additional Christmas outlay will leave more than half the population feeling financial stress over the holiday period, according to a MasterCard survey.

I'd never heard of BB creams until I was at the Estee Lauder counter at Smith & Caughey's Newmarket. "Everyone knows about BB creams," my daughter uttered with a touch of disgust.

You buy a new thing, lose interest in the thing, find a newer thing to buy, stick the old thing in a cupboard and repeat forever until you die. Ugh. Sound familiar?

Are you going camping this summer? And will you be taking the kitchen sink with you?

The battle of the supermarkets has never been so cut-throat, with the major players constantly on the lookout for new ways to lure us inside. Alan Perrott finds global trends indicate worse is to come.

Dear Halloween grinches. Have a heart and buy some lollies for the excited children who will be knocking on your door on Thursday.

Christmas decorations are appearing in the shops and it won't be long before perfume sales skyrocket. But where will you be buying your perfume?

Fremantle is known for its eclectic, multicultural charm.

Online booking sites are revolutionary compared to the old days of phone calls, faxes, travel agents and rack rates.

Life has never been so good for discerning fashion shoppers. Online shopping makes even the most obscure brands accessible.

I bought something from Noel Leeming and wanted to pay via internet banking so they could post it to me. Noel Leeming said that I had paid GE Credit by accident and would need to speak to them.

Victoria Park Market shopowners have hired a lawyer in a fiery dispute with the well-known shopping centre's developers and managers.

This week, I spent more than two hours of valuable time trying to find the right pair of Nike or adidas soccer boots in the right size and the right colour.

A phone company is on the cusp of urging its customers to leave their credit cards at home and instead spend with their phone, using the new "digital wallet".

Whether you're a creative crafts person or more of a crazy cougar, it's hard not to be drawn to Wellington this month for the World of Wearable Arts shows.

Trade Me doesn't jump out as the place to buy your groceries.

Irradiated tomatoes are on shop shelves, but some customers and even retailers are still unaware that they have been treated.

There is a different side to this mad city, one that'd get a tick of approval from even the most hardened hipster. Or aesthete. Or whatever that group with cynical world views and ironic clothing is being called these days.