CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The popular website Wallethub conducted a poll and released statistics for this July 4th weekend. It consists of stats on groceries, travel and fireworks. But how does that stack up to what we’re seeing here in Corpus Christi?
Wallethub’s poll found that 48 million people will travel more than 50 miles from home.
Several of those travelers have already hit whitecap beach, like Gelb Hulting and his two friends.
“Gas of course has gone up a lot. And snacks, a lot of water. Got to stay hydrated,” said Hulting from Boerne.
Matt Kiddy is a former resident of the Coastal Bend, but now vacations in Corpus Christi.
“Of course we picked up some food and some different things. Games and stuff to do. And then of course, paying for gas getting down here was the biggest expense,” Kiddy said, who now lives in Katy.
Along the lines of food, Wallethub is estimating $8 billion will be spent on Fourth of July food.
“We had steak last night actually and that was a bit of an indulgence, but other than that, a bunch of cheap stuff try to keep the cost low and everything like that,” Aleksei Mason said. He is part of the group that traveled with Hulting.
That idea of keeping costs low this holiday weekend may reflect on some grocery stores.
Local shop owner Peter Patel expects a holiday profit bump, but not like in past years.
“People are watching their budget while it comes to the spending and that’s one of the reasons I feel like sales is not going to be there what it used to be,” Patel said, owner of grocery stores like Prescott Meat Market, QC Meat Market and three other shops.
Wallethub states, last year, beef topped the grocery list with $675 million sold. Each Fourth of July, 150 million hot dogs are eaten. But with budgets in mind, it's changed how some spend for vacation.
“A little bit, we were still planning what we planned to do, but yeah we’ve had to think about everything else we wanted to do and adjust a little bit,” Kiddy said.
Mason said his group is staying at a friends beach house, and typically one person might cover gas or a meal for everyone.
"But because of inflation, all that stuff, we have to help pitch in for all that food and everything. But other than that, we're here to have a good time and it's been a blast so far."
You can see all of Wallethub's statistics here.
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