Maria Prieto couldn't resist. Shopping for Christmas presents at a Gap Kids recently, she thought about that 25-percent off coupon she had. Why let it go to waste?

So the nurse from New Jersey did what industry analysts call "self-purchasing" _ she bought something for herself! The turtleneck top and trousers from the grown-up Gap was just what she needed for work.

Many others are "self-purchasing" as well, some industry analysts say _ in surprising numbers. Of course, gift-buying remains the number one priority this time of year, and it gets more frantic as the days go by. But some, lured by deals and perhaps a little tired of being frugal, are indulging themselves, too.

"I haven't seen anything like this before," says Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at market researcher NPD Group, who's been out at stores talking to customers, and whose firm conducts internal surveys. "More people are buying for themselves this season than at any time the past decade, when we started asking the question."

That's not surprising to a shopper like Kimmilyn Vu. Shopping recently for friends' gifts at the Valley Fair mall in San Jose, Calif., she found herself gravitating from Sephora, where the line was out the door, toward Baker's, where she picked up a pair of shoes for about $70 _ 20 percent off the original price.

"I'm a girl who loves shoes," says Vu, 31, who recently launched her own personal styling company. "Besides, there are so many amazing deals, you can't help NOT buy things." Were the shoes her only self-purchase this season? "Well, no. I like dresses," she allows. "I bought five of them." Accessories? Yup, some of those too _ although everything was pretty much a bargain. Grand total: About $500.

Vu says she felt more comfortable shopping this season than last _ for others, as well as herself. "Things seem more secure financially, and I think everybody has a better idea of where the economy is going," she says. "After a year of fear, people are saying, hey, I survived. I have a little more to spend, and to give."

Cohen, the retail analyst, says internal surveys show that in a normal, healthy economy, 26 percent of holiday shoppers buy for themselves as well as others. Last year, his firm found in online surveys that 19 percent were doing so; this season, he says, the number is 41 percent.

He attributes the phenomenon partly to what he calls "frugality fatigue."

"Consumers tell me they're buying one item as a gift and maybe one or even two for them," says Cohen. But he adds that often the purchases are sensible ones _ like a washer-dryer, on sale.