How's your holiday shopping going? If you're still looking for something to impress your true love, consider giving a gift inspired by the classic "12 Days of Christmas."
For the 33rd year, the PNC Financial Services Group has analyzed the lengthy Christmas gift list from the song and determined, in its specially devised Christmas Price Index (CPI), just how much the prices have changed from year to year.
Poultry prices aren't paltry: Overall, the cost of the song's gifts grew only slightly this year. But be prepared to pay a hefty prices if you opt for a few of the dozen days' presents.
The total 2016 CPI comes to $34,363.49. That's a minuscule 0.7 percent increase over last year if you do your lyrically inspired partridge et al shopping the old-fashioned way, personally stopping at stores.
Things start out well. A partridge in a pear tree will run you almost $210.
While that's still a pretty penny for a partridge, it's a 2.3 percent decline from last year. The reason for the 2016 bargain is that there's an oversupply of game birds, while the pear tree's cost remained stable.
But the savings are short-lived.
The price of a true love's next gift of two turtle doves is $375, an increase of more than 29 percent.
Of all the song's gifts, the doves experienced the biggest spike in price from last year. The reasons, according the PNC, is that supply couldn't seem to keep up with the demand this year for these popular lovebirds.
Wage increases for the drummers and pipers accounted for the increased prices of those gifts. The 11 pipers' price was up almost 3 percent, coming to $2,708.40. The dozen accompanying percussionists saw a similar percentage increase in 2016. This year they will run you $2,934.10.
There is good news, thought, for the romantics who want to give the traditional gift of jewelry.
Despite a rise in gold commodity prices this year, PNC's CPI found that the cost of five gold rings stayed surprisingly the same at $750. The rings, which have held steady for four consecutive years, appear less volatile than the underlying commodity.
Cyber shopping is pricier: If you don't have time to hit all the stores for the 12 days' worth of gifts, there's always the increasingly popular online shopping option.
But be ready to pay for the convenience.
The seasonal song's sundry items come to $44,602.53 this year, an increase of more than $10,000 than when purchased in person.
Christmas songs and tax tips: A more affordable musical gift for your nostalgic friends and family is the Partridge Family's Chistmas album. No, it doesn't include "The 12 Days of Christmas." That would have been too weird.
If you want to diversify your holiday playlist, as well as pick up a few tax tips, check out these 12 Christmas tax tune tips from a few years ago.
And over at The Tax Foundation, Jared Walczak offers A Taxing Review of the Twelve Days of Christmas.
However you celebrate and whatever song is your favorite — it isn't Christmas for me until I hear "Silver Bells" — here's wishing everyone a fun and safe season.
