12 Days of Christmas Getting Costly

Need some holiday gift ideas? Remember the 12 Days of Christmas well here's an eye-opener...............

1 a partridge in a pear tree
2 turtle doves
3 French hens
4 calling birds
5 golden rings = $436.20
6 geese a-laying
7 swans a-swimming = $6,980.75
8 maids a-milking = $65.30
9 ladies dancing
10 lords a-leaping
11 pipers piping = $2,846.85
12 drummers drumming = $3,085.75

Spike in cost of swans sends price of 12 days a-soaring, says annual Christmas Price Index

Nancy J. White, Living Reporter has a great take on the high cost of giving the 12 Days of Christmas.

To get your true love a partridge in a pear tree, two turtle doves, three French hens, four calling birds – you get the drift – it will cost you, for the complete set of 12: $26,260 (all figures Canadian). That's a lot of smackeroos a-spending.

It's a lordly leap of 8.1 per cent from last year, according to PNC Financial Services in Pittsburgh, which yesterday announced its annual Christmas Price Index of the items in the song "The
Twelve Days of Christmas."

The main culprit: those seven swans a-swimming. They're up a honking 33.3 per cent due to their scarcity.

The whimsical Christmas Price Index, says PNC, does reflect economic trends, such as commodities prices and shipping costs.

And labour. The eight maids a-milking, the only unskilled workers, benefited from a minimum-wage hike.

Typical for starving artists, most of the performers – pipers piping, drummers drumming – got a modest 3 per cent, essentially a cost-of-living increase.

The bright spot for consumers: The five golden rings fell 11.4 per cent as retailers trim prices of luxury goods in light of all markets a-moaning.