The $78,100 Christmas gift

stole this from a music list I'm on:

This year cost of gifts in 'Twelve Days of Christmas' rises to $78,100
updated 8:38 a.m. ET, Mon., Nov. 26, 2007
PITTSBURGH - While the origins of the Christmas carol "The Twelve Days
of Christmas" may be a mystery, one thing is certain: It's getting
more costly to buy your true love all the items mentioned.

It would cost $78,100 to buy the 364 items, from a single partridge in
a pear tree to the 12 drummers drumming, repeatedly on each day as the
song suggests, according to the annual PNC Christmas Price Index
compiled by PNC Wealth Management. The cost is up 4 percent from
$75,122 last year.


Buying each item in the song just once would cost $19,507, up 3.1
percent from last year's $18,921. And shopping online would be
costlier, with the total for the 364 items costing $128,886, up 2.5
percent from last year's $125,767. You would spend $31,249 online for
each item just once this year.


Though a humorous look, PNC said the index mirrors actual economic
trends. PNC has been calculating the cost of Christmas since 1984.


Helping push the cost up this year is the minimum wage hike, which
bumped the cost of eight maids a-milking from about $41 to nearly $47.


"They have not had an increase since 1997," said Jim Dunigan, managing
executive of investment for PNC Wealth Management. "The good news is,
if you're a maids a-milking, they will also see an increase in 2008
and 2009."


12 days PAYING FOR IT


Prices of items in the Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas,"
according to PNC Wealth Management:
Item Cost Cost last year
Partridge $15 Same
Pear Tree $150 $130
Two Turtle Doves $40 Same
Three French Hens $45 Same
Four Calling Birds (canaries) $600 $480
Five Gold Rings $395 $325
Six Geese a-Laying $360 $300
Seven Swans a-Swimming $4,200 Same
Eight Maids a-Milking $47 $41
Nine Ladies Dancing (per performance) $4,759 Same
10 Lords a-Leaping (per performance) $4,285 $4,160
11 Pipers Piping (per performance) $2,213 $2,124
12 Drummers Drumming (per performance) $2,398 $2,301


Higher food costs pushed the six geese a-laying from $300 to $360. And
reflecting higher gold prices, those five gold rings will cost $395,
up 21.5 percent from last year's $325.


"The cost of the gold rings in this year's Christmas Price Index
reflects the general trend of increasing commodity prices in the
Consumer Price Index, including gold," Dunigan said. "In addition,
increased fears about inflation and the value of the dollar may have
led investors to turn to gold as a safer place to invest their money."


Not everything is more costly. The price of a partridge ($15), two
turtle doves ($40) and three French hens ($40) remained the same, as
did seven swans a-swimming, at $4,200, and nine ladies dancing, at
$4,759.


PNC checks jewelry stores, dance companies, pet stores and other
sources to compile the list, Dunigan said.


If one had $78,000 to splurge for Christmas, there's "probably a
Mercedes or a Hummer in there someplace," Dunigan said. "The key there
is you'd lose the romantic value."


"I'm sure there's something on the list for everybody," he said. "If
it was my wife, she'd probably go for five gold rings."

 

I only count 79 items, not 364. What am I missing?

 

You buy things repeatedly.

 

Why are you counting? Why was this story written? Just why?

 

Like 12+11+10+9...or someth...oh I think I get it. That's stupid.

 

It's a story that gets written every year at Christmas time. How much would the gifts in the 12 days of Christmas cost?
Of course it likely gets written every year because some news/features editor says "I bet people don't remember that story from last year" or because the AP needs to have a stock Christmas story they run every year, but just update.

 

Those are some expensive lap dances.