Now that Thanksgiving is over, it's officially the holiday season. That means it's time to get your holiday shopping under way, in case you didn't already know that from all of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday madness being advertised.
Holiday shopping can obviously be a very overwhelming experience, which is why people want to be done with it as quickly as possible. Gift guides, wish lists and just flat-out asking your loved ones what they want for Christmas this year can all be useful ways to make the process less stressful. But if you are really in a bind and want to go the traditional route, you can always look to the classic Christmas carol "The 12 Days of Christmas" for some inspiration.
You know the one I'm talking about. The lyrics detail an item that the singer would like his or her "true love" to send on each of the 12 days of Christmas. And you could do the same for your special someone. The song is filled with gift ideas from 10 lords a leaping to five golden rings and a partridge in a pear tree.
Sure, some of the lyrics seem like pretty impractical gifts, but anything can be bought for the right price. You really could shell out a few bucks for all of the items in "The 12 Days of Christmas" song, but it'll cost you.
The folks over at PNC Wealth Management determined the price of each of the items mentioned in "The 12 Days of Christmas" in the firm's 31st annual PNC Wealth Management Christmas Price Index. If you wanted to purchase all 12 items in the song's lyrics IRL, you would spend $116,273. That's 1.4 percent increase from last year, and a whole lot of money to pay for six geese a-laying.
The most expensive item on the list is "nine ladies dancing" at a cost of $7,552.84, because you've got to pay for talented women that know how to bust a move. On the other end of the spectrum, the least expensive item is surprisingly "eight maids a-milking" at only $58. The cost is so low because milkmaids are unskilled laborers, according to the report. Hmmm, milking cows always seemed like it took a lot of skill to me.
Check out the full list of items and their prices below.
A partridge in a pear tree: $207.68
Two turtle doves: $125
Three French hens: $181.50
Four calling birds (canaries): $599.96
Five gold rings: $750
Six geese a-laying: $360
Seven swans a-swimming: $7,000
Eight maids a-milking: $58
Nine ladies dancing (per performance): $7,552.84
10 lords a-leaping (per performance): $5,348
11 pipers piping (per performance): $2,635
12 drummers drumming (per performance): $2,855
[H/T The Associated Press]
Image: "George" Larcher / Flickr
