Putting together all the gifts mentioned in “The Twelve Days of Christmas” is a pricey proposition — but no day is as expensive as number seven, according to a New York Times article. Buying ’seven swans a-swimming’ for your true love will cost $5,600 just by themselves. Added up, the other eleven gifts total $15,480.10 — making the whole song worth $21,080.10.

PNC Wealth Management calculates the Christmas Price Index every year: totaling up the cost of the items in “The Twelve Days of Christmas” as a way to reflect changes in the economy and get in the holiday spirit. This year marks the 24th time PNC employees have had to find out the current cost of two turtle doves, eight maids a-milking and all the rest. Without a doubt, though, the swans are always the main variable. Trumpeter swans are particularly scarce and have caused major swings in the index over the years. The other birds on the list are also more expensive than they have been in years past, with the exception of the French hens and geese.

PNC’s website details where they found the wide variety of items on the list:

This year, the National Aviary in Pittsburgh provided the cost of some of the birds in the song, including the partridge, the French hens, geese and swans. The Cincinnati Zoo provided the cost of turtle-doves. National pet chain PetCo provides the price of the calling birds, or canaries.

The pear tree price came from Waterloo Gardens, a Philadelphia nursery. Gordon’s Jewelers provided the cost of five 14-carat gold rings, and Philadanco, a modern dance company in Philadelphia, offered the price of ladies dancing. The Pennsylvania Ballet offered the price of the lords a-leaping. Prices for the musicians in the song—the drummers and pipers—were provided by a Pennsylvania musicians union.

Lastly, maids a-milking are the only unskilled laborers in the index, and as such, they reflect the minimum wage.

Year after year, the sources for the prices remain the same for the most part to ensure consistency, but have changed on occasion due to changes in the market or business landscape.

This year, the price of Christmas has reached an all-time high, topping last year’s cost even when inflation is taken into account — the total for 2007 was $19,507. Prior to 2007, 1994’s price held the record. PNC also calculated the difference between doing your shopping in person and using the internet: the total comes in at $31,957 after you consider shipping convenience costs.

PNC maintains a separate website for the Christmas Price Index, which offers educational materials that use the index to teach economic trends. It also contains a complete list of data and a number of interactive features.

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Twelve drummers drumming,
Eleven pipers piping,
Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree!

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It’s pretty normal to see people gearing up for some major spending around this time of year. In years past, that has translated in to some pretty heft credit card bills in January. But at least a few people are working on having a credit-card free Christmas.

Rising Interest Rates

Many credit card companies have higher interest rates than they did this time last year. While the possibility of using a credit card remains an option, it’s getting a lot more expensive. Even if you only wait until February to pay off the balance, you could be paying your credit card company quite a bit for the pleasure. Even the rewards that many cards offer don’t equal the cost unless you can pay off your balance in the month that you do your spending.

Tightening Belts

Even if your credit card’s terms haven’t changed recently, you may have noticed that a lot of people are tightening their belts for this year’s holidays. That doesn’t mean that we’re backing down on gift giving — most people will do everything they can to continue to give gifts even in an economic crunch. But there will be more handmade gifts this year, as well as careful shopping for sales.

A Holiday Without Cards?

There’s another card that will be making a reduced appearance this year: the gift card. Concerns about the stability of several major retailers makes a gift card a risky choice. Chances are increasing that recipients just won’t be able to use the full value of a gift card. The thought of using a credit card to purchase a gift card that won’t be used makes it an even more uncomfortable choice. If your goal is to help a friend or family member make a purchase, there is a far more stable option — cash.

Fewer Cards

According to eBillme (an online shopping option that allows users to pay cash), credit card use is dropping significantly this season:

Index results for the fourth quarter show that the credit crunch is causing shoppers to reduce their credit card usage and impacting consumer access to credit, resulting in a shift to cash alternatives.

It’s not necessarily a bad thing that we’re using our credit cards less, though. The average American household with at least one credit card has nearly $10,000 in credit card debt. The first step for any of us looking to reduce that debt is to put the credit cards away. It’s virtually impossible to pay off credit card debt when a person is still routinely using his or her credit cards for purchases — especially for a holiday gift shopping spree.

There are plenty of options for giving gifts that cost surprisingly little: we can give the gift of time or craft a gift for our loved ones. And if we do so, we get a gift of our own: the chance to avoid taking on credit card debt for the sake of the holidays.

Are you going to have a credit-card free holiday season?

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