Which Texas Cities Have the Most Money to Burn on Black Friday?

Our daily roundup of Texas headlines.

By Becky FogelNovember 22, 2016 10:53 am

The Standard’s news roundup gives you a quick hit of interesting, sometimes irreverent, and breaking news stories from all over the state.

In anticipation of shoppers clamoring – and sadly – clobbering each other later this week for Black Friday deals, the website WalletHub looked at holiday shopping budgets by city. Jill Gonzales, an analyst with the site says the average around the U.S.  is about $950, up from 2015’s average of $800 – and that goes up depending on where you live, especially if you’re a Texan. 

According to their analysis, four of the top six cities with the most money to burn this holiday season are suburbs of Houston.

“Number 2 was League City, after that Sugarland, Pearland was up there as well, Missouri City at number 6 and their recommended holiday budget, not necessarily what they will spend but what they can afford to spend, is over $2,000 really up near that $2,500 mark,” she says. 




If you were planning on camping in a Texas State Park this Thanksgiving, you might be out luck. A lot of those sites have already been gobbled up. Texas Public Radio’s Shelley Kofler reports:

A four-day holiday and the brisk November weather makes it a perfect time to camp in Texas.  Plenty of outdoor lovers figured that out months ago and have reserved nearly all the campsites in our 91 state parks. Russell Fishbeck  is the Deputy Director of Texas State Parks.  He says the Thanksgiving holiday is actually one of the toughest times of the year to find a state park campsite.

“We’re finding some schools are actually out the entire week so that affords many families to kind of have a fall break,” he says. “Outside of that many families just celebrate Thanksgiving in our parks.”

Fishbeck says you can call the state park reservation number and they may be able to find a campsite somewhere. Our spot check of popular parks in South Central Texas showed that from this Wednesday through Sunday there are no individual campsites open at Enchanted Rock; Garner; Government Canyon; Guadalupe River, Lost Maples State, or Pedernales state parks. Fishbeck says even daytime visitors may have a hard time getting in.

“We’re having parks close midmorning or early afternoon in the more popular areas, then open later in the day because of capacity,” he says. 

Fishbeck recommends calling ahead to individual parks to make sure you can get in. You can also check their Facebook and Twitter pages for updates. State parks in Texas accept reservations up to 333 days in advance.  So if you want to camp over the Thanksgiving holiday think about next year and make your reservation now.”




If you’re hitting the road for Thanksgiving, you’re probably dreading the prospect of getting a ticket. But ahead of the holiday, police officers in Fort Worth made some drivers thankful they got pulled over.

Instead of handing out traffic citations, they gifted people with turkeys. And their hashtag? #turkeysnottickets.

If only it was Thanksgiving every day.