No joke.
I think buying a little at a time every month, within your financial means, will work out better and not burden you with crazy debt. Then again if you believe 2012 is really the end and you need to stock up now, by all means rack up the credit card debt. Of course if I were a gambling man, I'd be willing to bet Jan 1 2013 is going to be here right on schedule, followed by a really big CC bill.