Holiday Spending
3 Dallas suburbs rank among biggest holiday spenders in America
Residents of three Dallas-Fort Worth suburbs are poised to have very festive holiday seasons, according to a new study. Allen, Flower Mound, and Frisco lead WalletHub's rankings of the top holiday budgets by city.
To determine the maximum spending amounts of consumers in 570 American cities, WalletHub measured five criteria: income, age, debt-to-income ratio, monthly income-to-monthly expenses ratio, and savings-to-monthly expenses ratio. The website's algorithm looks favorably upon cities where residents have enough emergency savings to cover six months of expenses and relatively low debt-to-income ratios.
Allen takes the No. 9 spot, with $2,163 spent per person, followed by Flower Mound at No. 16 ($1,825 per person) and Frisco at No. 19 ($1,740 per person). Also at the top of the list are two Houston suburbs: Sugar Land, No. 2 at $2,368, and League City, No. 7 at $2,225.
Not surprisingly, residents of big cities don't have quite as much cash to spend. Citizens in Austin (189), Fort Worth (256), San Antonio (354), Houston (394), and Dallas (398) will spend between $538 and $767 per person this holiday season.
What's one tip to avoid overspending during the holidays? Set a budget and stick to it, one expert advises.
"Clarify the budget for holiday spending at the level of the family and at the level of individual family members," advises Sridhar Balasubramian, a professor of marketing at the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina. "Also, clarify the budget for gifts to those outside the immediate family unit, i.e., for relatives and friends other than the core family unit comprising parents and their kids."
Those looking for ways to show affection without spending a lot of money are advised either to make a gift or to direct their attention to non-material items like spending quality time with loved ones.
