CAN YOU AFFORD THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS? HERE’S A BREAKDOWN TO CHECK

We’re 12 days from Christmas, so how much would “The 12 Days of Christmas” run you this year? PNC Bank does an annual study on how much it would cost to buy everything from the song. The answer this year is $45,523, up 10.5%.  Or if you bought the items over and over each day like the song suggests, that’s 364 total gifts, and over $197,000. Here’s a breakdown of how much it would cost to buy or hire all 12 things . . .

Twelve drummers drumming . . . $3,267 to hire them.

Eleven pipers piping . . . $3,021.

Ten lords-a-leaping . . . $13,980.  It’s the most expensive gift on the list.  It’s based on how much it would cost to hire ten dancers from the Philadelphia ballet.

Nine ladies dancing . . . $8,308.  Based on hiring nine women from a modern dance company in Philly. 

Eight maids-a-milking . . . $58.  Weird gift, but the cheapest on the list.  That’s eight women milking cows for an hour at the federal minimum wage of $7.25. 

Seven swans-a-swimming . . . $13,125. 

Six geese-a-laying . . . $720.

Five gold rings . . . $1,245, up 39%.  That’s a bigger jump than anything else on the list.  It’s for five 14-carat gold rings according to a national jewelry chain.

Four calling birds . . . $600.

Three French hens . . . $319.

Two turtle doves . . . $600.

And a partridge in a pear tree . . . $280.  The partridge costs the same as last year.  But fertilizer prices are up, so pear trees have jumped 26%.