Financial facts for Christmas and the New Year

 

Looking for the best places to celebrate Christmas and the New Year? Wondering what New Year’s resolutions to make? Pondering what to do about your finances? Worried about your credit card debt?

Wallet Hub, a personal finance website, offers these articles to help you through the holidays and beyond:

• Chicago, San Francisco, and Pittsburgh are the best places to celebrate Christmas.
   
• New York, Orlando, and Atlanta are the best places to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
   
• Enrolling in credit monitoring, paying bills right after payday, and getting an A in financial literacy are among the top New Year’s Resolutions for 2018.
   
• 2018 will be marked by continued economic growth as well as record highs for the stock market and consumer credit card debt, according to WalletHub’s New Year’s predictions.
   
• After an expensive holiday shopping season, U.S. consumers are expected to end 2017 with $76 billion more credit card debt than they started with, according to WalletHub’s latest Debt Study.
   
• The companies whose gift cards have the highest resale value are: Netflix, Best Buy, Walmart, and the Apple Store.
   
• Utah, Maryland, and Minnesota were the most charitable states in 2017. Madison, Wisconsin; Virginia Beach, Virginia, and Lincoln, Nebraska, were America’s most caring cities.
   
• Detroit, Cleveland, and Newark have the largest populations of economically-disadvantaged citizens.