Cost Of The 12 Days Of Christmas
Every year, PNC Wealth Management calculates how much it would cost to buy each item in the "12 Days Of Christmas."
For 2012? That'll be a quick $107,300.24. It's the most expensive year ever, up over 6% since last year.
Somewhat tongue-in-cheek, PNC Wealth Management says the severe drought caused increased feed cost for large birds, which drove up the overall cost.
From the website PNC Christmas Price Index:
- Six items (the Partridge, Two Turtle Doves, Four Calling Birds, Eight Maids-A-Milking, Nine Ladies Dancing and 10 Lords-A-Leaping) remained the same price as last year.
- Sounding an Increase: The prices for 11 Pipers Piping ($2,562.00) and 12 Drummers Drumming ($2,775.50) advanced this year, both up 5.5 percent.
- Pear Tree: Economists report that housing prices may have bottomed and this trend is reflected in the PNC CPI as the home to the Partridge jumped 11.8 percent to $189.99.
- Three French Hens were up 10.0 percent and the Five Gold Rings, which soared 16.3 percent, played catch up with the dramatic rise in gold prices in 2011.
- Maids-a-Milking: As the only unskilled laborers in the PNC CPI, the price for the eight Maids-a-Milking is represented by the minimum wage. With the minimum wage flat at $7.25 per hour, hiring the maids this year will not increase labor costs.