Holiday Budgets: Ocean County Town Outspends Most of America

The weather is getting cooler, Thanksgiving is in a few weeks, and the days are getting shorter — it could only mean one thing: Christmas and Hanukkah are right around the corner. With the holiday season comes budgeting — procrastination — and credit card debt.

According to a new report published by the personal finance website WalletHub, one Ocean County town is in the top 11% of cities in the nation for having the most significant holiday budgets.

Toms River comes in at #63 on a list that includes 570 other cities in the country with a whopping $1,375 as the maximum holiday budget.

The report indicates that they used five critical factors in determining the cities with the biggest holiday budgets. Those perimeters include:

— Income
— Age
— Debt-to-Income Ratio
— Monthly Income to Monthly Expenses Ratio
— Savings to Monthly Expenses Ratio

"At a high level, our algorithm considers a consumer to be in a comfortable financial position to engage in holiday spending if they have: 1) enough emergency savings to cover at least six months of expenses and 2) a debt-to-income ratio smaller than 22 percent for a renter or 43 percent for a homeowner," WalletHub states in their methodology for the rankings.

While the website says that the numbers are an estimate, the algorithm that they use adjusts upward and downward based on the city's specific characteristics.

It's also important to note that Toms River had the largest maximum budget in the state of New Jersey with only 11 other New Jersey towns making the list:

— #74 Clifton — $1,294
— #92 Jersey City — $1,184
— #122 Bayonne — $1,066
— #269 Union City — $701
— #291 Elizabeth — $682
— #303 Paterson — $666
— #327 East Orange — $640
— #476 Newark — $511
— #514 Passaic — $466
— #563 Trenton —$336
— #567 Camden — $227

Providence, Rhode Island, came in dead last for the total maximum budget at a mere $111, while Palo Alto, California, topped the list with a maximum budget at $3,160.

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