The Twelve Days of Christmas Out of Pocket Expense

Ever wonder how much your true love would have to spend on you to fulfill the mission of that catchy little tune? The PNC computes an annual analysis of the amount of money one would have to spend in order to purchase each of the items from the Twelve Days of Christmas.

While you may have never asked your true love for a pear tree, you may want to ask for a partridge instead, the least expensive item in the song. The pear tree has actually made quite a jump over the past year, as have many other items on the list.

The milking maids remained the steadiest due to the only unskilled laborers in the song.

The Twelve Days of Christmas has become an increasingly expensive purchase. The items in the song will run more than $18,900 this year. This is a 3% rise form last year. So why are partridges in a pear tree so much more expensive than last year? The items in the song have increased in different ways.

According to PNC Financial Services Group, the total cost of items gifted by a True Love who repeats all of the items in each verse will cost over $75,000, a 3.5% increase from last year.

According to chief investment strategist for PNC Wealth Management Jeff Kleintop, the wages for skilled workers have increased as the labor market has tightened. That's great news for dancers and musicians, whether there are eleven of them of several thousand.

There has also been a decline in the housing market which has decreased the demand for golden rings and other luxury items, therefore making them more expensive.

Partridges, turtle doves, French hens, geese and swans are currently at the same rate that they were last year. Leaping lords and dancing ladies, as well as piping pipers have all had an increase in average wages. So, if you are planning on giving your true love all of the items from the twelve days, you may want to reconsider your budget.
The milking maids' minimum wage unfortunately remains at $5.15 an hour. This is the same wage that has been instated since 1997.

This analysis performed by the Pittsburgh bank is somewhat silly; it is of course interesting to note the prices on the random assortment of products and services listed in the song.

The PNC has been calculating the cost of the items for one's true love every Christmas since 1984.

For the current price of the combined items, one could buy a brand new Hummer or cruise around the world, a 5-carat diamond ring (which certainly beats 5 golden ones) or a top-of the line exclusive Cartier or Piaget watch. Of course, without the partridge in the pear tree you'd really be missing out.

The 364 items would cost approximately $127,000 online.

The 9 ladies are the most expensive item on the list and the seven swans also range in the $4,000 price range. The partridge is the cheapest item, only $15. Perhaps since Christmas is only one day, the first on the list is the most important to purchase.

The biggest jump was the pear tree itself which went from $89.99 last year to $129.99 this year.

1995 was the lowest index with all of the items in the song reaching a total of $12,481.65.

The prices for the birds come from the Cincinnati Zoo. This includes the partridge, the turtle doves, the French hens, the swans and the geese. The calling birds were prices by the national pet chain PetCo.

Pear trees were priced by the Waterloo Gardens, a Philadelphia nursery.

Gordon's Jewelers provides the cost of the fourteen caret gold rings.

A modern dance company in Philadelphia gave the price of ladies dancing.

The Pennsylvania Ballet gave the price of the lords' a-leaping. The drummers and pipers drumming and piping were priced by the Pennsylvania musicians union.

Lastly, the maids-a-milking were reflective of the minimum wage. These were the only unskilled laborers in the song.

The biggest change over the past twenty years has been the internet. The goods and services are easier to find and the convenience is much greater. This convenience can only be had at a price of course.

The price of swans has also dramatically decreased. These birds used to cost $7000, if you wanted six of them of course. Today, the six swans can be purchased for only $4000.

Entertainment has also greatly increased in cost. The dancing ladies and leaping Lords have raked in a 300% increase in their fees.

Service prices have also generally increased over the past 22 years.