You might want to skip getting your true love a partridge or a pair of turtle doves this season if you don't want to break the bank: This year's "12 Days of Christmas" price index, which totals the cost of all the items named in the song, is the most expensive yet. Oddly, the birds are to blame for the .6 percent price increase from 2014, while items like gold rings didn't change in cost (a surprise to economists, who saw the value of gold dip this year).
The cost of partridges rose an entire 25 percent over 2014 due to the bird's "growing popularity as a gourmet food and in backyard farming," according to PNC Wealth Management, who produces the list. A partridge, then, will run you about $25 — the pear tree you stick it in costs $189.99, only a 1.2 percent increase over last year by comparison. The price of turtle doves was additionally up 11.5 percent due to increased grain prices, costing $290 for the pair.
This year, the cost of all the items named in the "12 Days of Christmas" would total $34,130.99, up from $33,933.22 in 2014. Online purchases of the items in 2015 would be higher, at $43,626.73 once it's all said and done.
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