Honey, I love you, but you don't need all those swans a-swimming.

by Ron Daly

Just wanted to thank all our readers out there from all across the country for their continued interest in our blog. Here's hoping you have a great holiday and some time to reflect on the year that's been and the year to come. 

We here at the Soapbox are hanging it up for the rest of the year and we'll be back on January 5. But before we go, we figured we'd offer you some money-saving advice. 

See, "Today" did a story about the 12 days of christmas - specifically, the fact that to purchase everything mentioned in the song, you'd need about $87,000. Here's the breakdown of what costs what. 

Adding it up

Prices of items in the Christmas carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” according to PNC Wealth Management: Partridge, $20 (last year: $15) Pear Tree, $200 (last year: $150) Two Turtle Doves, $55 (last year: $40) Three French Hens, $30 (last year: $45) Four Calling Birds (canaries), $600 (last year: same) Five Gold Rings, $350 (last year: $395) Six Geese a-Laying, $240 (last year: $360) Seven Swans a-Swimming, $5,600 (last year: $4,200) Eight Maids a-Milking, $52 (last year: $47) Nine Ladies Dancing (per performance), $4,759 (last year: same) 10 Lords a-Leaping (per performance), $4,414 (last year: $4,285) 11 Pipers Piping (per performance), $2,285 (last year: $2,213) 12 Drummers Drumming (per performance), $2,475 (last year: $2,398)

 

[From NBC's "Today" show website. Click here for the full article.]

I tend to be frugal. As such, I don't think I'll be getting my wife all these birds (23 in all...28 if you buy into the theory that the "five gold rings" refers to ring-necked pheasants), milk maids, leapers, dancing ladies, pipers and drummers. I think I'll go with a gift card instead. Everyone loves gift cards. 

Happy Holidays from CUSoapbox.