Your true love trying to buy all those presents for the twelve days of Christmas may be suffering from sticker shock. The final four days will cost about $2,000.

That’s a lot of money for some birds. Four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves, and a partridge in a pear tree. If that total isn’t a problem, the entire twelve days of gifts will set a person back $46,729.86. That is a 2.7 percent increase over last year. All of this gift-giving comes from a song.

According to Vox, “The 12 days of Christmas is the period in Christian theology that marks the span between the birth of Christ and the coming of the Magi, the three wise men. It begins on December 25 (Christmas) and runs through January 6 (the Epiphany, sometimes also called Three Kings’ Day).”

Since at least the late 1700s, people have been singing “The 12 Days of Christmas” carols. It’s written from the perspective of a person who has received 12 days of gifts from their “true love,” mostly birds and various performers, such as the highest ticket item this year, 10 lords-a-leaping.

“Some historians think the song could be French in origin, but most agree it was designed as a ‘memory and forfeits’ game, in which singers tested their recall of the lyrics and had to award their opponents a ‘forfeit’ – a kiss or a favor of some kind – if they made a mistake,” Vox explained.

This kind of calculation has been going on for years. PNC has calculated the total costs for about 40 years as a holiday complement to the Consumer Price Index. It’s just a little fun. When the project began, in 1984, the twelve gifts cost $20,023.57. This year the total is $46,729.86. Yikes!

Here is the list of presents and what they will cost you this year.

. A partridge in a pear tree: $319.18 (up 13.9%)

· Two turtle-doves: $750 (up 25%)

· Three French hens: $330 (up 3.5%)

· Four calling birds: $599.96 (flat)

· Five golden rings: $1,245 (flat)

· Six geese-a-laying: $780 (8.3%)

· Seven swans-a-swimming: $13,125 (flat)

· Eight maids-a-milking: $58 (flat)

· Nine ladies dancing: $8,308 (flat)

· 10 lords-a-Leaping: $14,539.20 (up 4%)

· 11 pipers piping: $3,207.38 (up 6.2%)

· 12 drummers drumming: $3,468.02 (up 6.2%)

I don’t know anyone who does that but I remember seeing the Neiman Marcus Christmas book one year and it offered the gifts from the song. I can’t help but think that a clever DYI person does it for a lot less money. What if they got some friends to be drummers or leaping lords, or dancing ladies? Just a thought.

Rebekah McCahan, PNC’s senior investment and portfolio strategist, explained how the numbers are calculated. She said it is fun to look at the index from year to year and see the changes. Consumer behavior has shifted from goods to one more heavily leaning toward the service and entertainment sectors. She has been the person making the comparisons and putting the numbers together for the past 38 of its 40 years.

“She uses a variety of sources to calculate the numbers, including national bird suppliers, a hatchery and waterfowl farm, and a national pet store chain for the bird prices. A nursery provides the pear tree price; a jeweler assists with the five gold rings; and a Philadelphia-based dance company provides the price of the ladies dancing. The Eight Maids-a-Milking are priced according to the federal minimum wage,” said PNC.

It’s a little nerd economics fun at Christmas. Why not? And, it’s a reminder this year that everything is up due to Bidenflation or Bidenomics, whatever it is we are calling it these days. Biden blew up the economy with his bad policies and big government spending. We are still feeling the effects of that.