Author Topic: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.  (Read 27780 times)

Trudie

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How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« on: October 07, 2015, 03:44:26 PM »
Not all of these are anti-mustachian, and in fact some of them are sweet.  But #8 threw me -- the person more worried about how the size of her engagement ring would affect her career.

http://thoughtcatalog.com/daniel-hayes/2015/10/13-women-reveal-how-much-their-engagement-ring-cost-and-what-it-means-to-them/

FatCat

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #1 on: October 07, 2015, 03:56:47 PM »
When I see lots of diamonds on a ring I think it's fake. A $30k ring wouldn't impress me much because I would very likely think it's fake. If I found out it's real and how much it costs I'd think the buyer was foolish to give so much for a ring. The after market value of diamond rings is so low.

It's funny she got such an expensive ring because she didn't want people judging her for getting something cheap. Did it not occur to her that people might judge her for getting something too expensive?

gimp

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #2 on: October 07, 2015, 04:12:42 PM »
Inb4 engagement ring politics

AllieVaulter

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #3 on: October 07, 2015, 04:26:09 PM »
Whoa!  Number 8 bothered me for more than just the price of the ring!  Some women really want expensive rings.  I don't agree, but it's important to them for some reason or another. 

This statement though...
Quote
if we were going to marry then he needed to understand that my career was around before he was.
Holy moly!  Honestly, I just don't know how to read that sentence without interpreting it as "my husband is not as important to me as my job".  Some people love their jobs, but I cannot imagine getting married to someone if I didn't love them more than my job! 

Trudie

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #4 on: October 07, 2015, 06:09:09 PM »
Whoa!  Number 8 bothered me for more than just the price of the ring!  Some women really want expensive rings.  I don't agree, but it's important to them for some reason or another. 

This statement though...
Quote
if we were going to marry then he needed to understand that my career was around before he was.
Holy moly!  Honestly, I just don't know how to read that sentence without interpreting it as "my husband is not as important to me as my job".  Some people love their jobs, but I cannot imagine getting married to someone if I didn't love them more than my job!

That hit me as pretty flippant too.  It establishes a certain pecking order or value that I don't agree with.  (And before people pile on -- I am a career-oriented female who started her career before she met her spouse.  It's not about a woman's "role."  In this case I think she's deliberately making a statement about status and priorities that's really obnoxious.)

Proud Foot

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #5 on: October 08, 2015, 01:42:53 PM »
number 5. Really?
Quote
I told my fiancee that I wanted a three karat ring to signify the three years we’d been together.... Honestly, if he hadn’t gotten it for me I don’t know if I would have felt right saying yes, it meant that much to me.

She might not have said yes? I'm sorry but if your answer depends on the ring then I thing there may be problems with your marriage at some point.  When I proposed I did get the ring that my wife showed me and told me she wanted, but I know she would have said yes if I didn't get the ring she showed me.

domo

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #6 on: October 08, 2015, 01:55:28 PM »
Huh. Mine has no stones, it's a simple gold claddagh knotwork design. It's perfect. I have no idea how much he spent, but I can tell you it wasn't outrageous. 
If someone cares about the size of your ring rather than the happiness in your marriage, they aren't worth your time.

nanu

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #7 on: October 08, 2015, 02:02:47 PM »
Studies in the past have shown that expensive weddings are correlated with higher divorce rates. I wouldn't be surprised at all if expensive wedding rings are also correlated with divorce...

MgoSam

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #8 on: October 08, 2015, 02:24:38 PM »
Studies in the past have shown that expensive weddings are correlated with higher divorce rates. I wouldn't be surprised at all if expensive wedding rings are also correlated with divorce...

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/spending-less-wedding-save-marriage/

AZDude

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #9 on: October 08, 2015, 03:37:30 PM »
Whoa!  Number 8 bothered me for more than just the price of the ring!  Some women really want expensive rings.  I don't agree, but it's important to them for some reason or another. 

This statement though...
Quote
if we were going to marry then he needed to understand that my career was around before he was.
Holy moly!  Honestly, I just don't know how to read that sentence without interpreting it as "my husband is not as important to me as my job".  Some people love their jobs, but I cannot imagine getting married to someone if I didn't love them more than my job!

Totally agree. If I told you I loved you as much as I love my job, you should probably duck to avoid the literal facepunch.

MgoSam

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #10 on: October 08, 2015, 03:46:39 PM »
Whoa!  Number 8 bothered me for more than just the price of the ring!  Some women really want expensive rings.  I don't agree, but it's important to them for some reason or another. 

This statement though...
Quote
if we were going to marry then he needed to understand that my career was around before he was.
Holy moly!  Honestly, I just don't know how to read that sentence without interpreting it as "my husband is not as important to me as my job".  Some people love their jobs, but I cannot imagine getting married to someone if I didn't love them more than my job!

Totally agree. If I told you I loved you as much as I love my job, you should probably duck to avoid the literal facepunch.

As a guy I don't understand the importance in the size of a wedding ring, but I will say that I prefer a women that cares about her career and isn't looking to get married and stay-at-home, so I don't have as much of a problem if a women does value her ring for her career. Unfortunately there are many jobs out there that essentially require the person to care about their appearance, looks, style, and status, in order to get a job. I know a closet Mustachian lawyer that drives a Benz only because he found that he got more clients than when he was driving around in his Camry.

AllieVaulter

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #11 on: October 08, 2015, 11:47:39 PM »
number 5. Really?
Quote
I told my fiancee that I wanted a three karat ring to signify the three years we’d been together.... Honestly, if he hadn’t gotten it for me I don’t know if I would have felt right saying yes, it meant that much to me.

She might not have said yes? I'm sorry but if your answer depends on the ring then I thing there may be problems with your marriage at some point.  When I proposed I did get the ring that my wife showed me and told me she wanted, but I know she would have said yes if I didn't get the ring she showed me.

Yeah.  When I read that one to my husband he said "sounds like she's celebrating the three years their marriage is going to last."  Engagement rings are supposed to be about the future, not the past.  IMO.

jinga nation

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #12 on: October 09, 2015, 10:09:12 AM »
My cousin made her fiance spend a month's gross salary equivalent on her engagement ring, back in 2001. I asked her, "You mean both your rings, and his?". No, I'm an idiot, it was for the ONE ring. She said she let him off easy, convention 'dictates' it should be 3-months worth. I told her it's a damn stone that's found after moving tons of earth, destroying nature, and possible displacing people. It could also be a blood diamond. She laughed and scoffed at my cynicism.
One of my best friends deals in gemstones, raw and cut. He tells me diamonds are worthless trinkets. The masses buy it because it is controlled by a monopoly from mining to sales, Russia could anytime flood the market with their undetectable synthetics, and those certificates aren't worth the expensive stock paper they are printed on. Marketing sucks the oxygen so you can't think of a wedding without diamond rings.
I made my wife watch Blood Diamond http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3998716416/tt0450259 before we bought our rings. Then I realized she has a bigger mustache than me. I hope that sub-$1000 that I spent on all three rings means I'm guaranteed a long marriage, based on recent studies.

MgoSam

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #13 on: October 09, 2015, 10:29:43 AM »
My cousin made her fiance spend a month's gross salary equivalent on her engagement ring, back in 2001. I asked her, "You mean both your rings, and his?". No, I'm an idiot, it was for the ONE ring. She said she let him off easy, convention 'dictates' it should be 3-months worth. I told her it's a damn stone that's found after moving tons of earth, destroying nature, and possible displacing people. It could also be a blood diamond. She laughed and scoffed at my cynicism.
One of my best friends deals in gemstones, raw and cut. He tells me diamonds are worthless trinkets. The masses buy it because it is controlled by a monopoly from mining to sales, Russia could anytime flood the market with their undetectable synthetics, and those certificates aren't worth the expensive stock paper they are printed on. Marketing sucks the oxygen so you can't think of a wedding without diamond rings.
I made my wife watch Blood Diamond http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3998716416/tt0450259 before we bought our rings. Then I realized she has a bigger mustache than me. I hope that sub-$1000 that I spent on all three rings means I'm guaranteed a long marriage, based on recent studies.

I've seen way too many extremely rational women completely lose it when it comes down to getting a wedding ring. I have a friend that's very close to her bf, have talked about marriage, and I know that she's already started looking at rings.

mtn

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #14 on: October 09, 2015, 10:55:28 AM »
I probably spent too much--I got probably the best deal I could get on it, but it was still probably too much. I had an idea of what I wanted to give her, and went in and got a great education on diamonds (which are basically a scam) and bought it. I'm very happy with it, she's ecstatic with it--and the price, when I finally told her, fell just underneath her dollar amount of "If you spend more than this, you're an idiot", so that was good. It was about 1.5 months of my gross, but I had made up my budget by saving from my side job for 2 months, and combining that with whatever my tax return happened to be.

My problem was that once I learned about the diamonds, I became really good at spotting flaws. Now most diamonds that I see, I can spot a flaw. I knew that if my wife's had a flaw, I would always hone in on it. It doesn't make our marriage any less, it would just constantly annoy me. So I paid more to have one that didn't annoy me for the rest of my life. I didn't care as much about color, so hers is the "worst" of the near colorless--I really can't tell much difference unless it is in bright light. I wish I cared about comparing it to others, because hers really is noticeably more brilliant (is that the right word) than most others when the girls do that comparing thing-but that to me is just an interesting part of it, I don't get enjoyment out of the fact that hers is better. At least it doesn't bother me either.

Then we went to look for her wedding ring at jewelers, Macy's, etc. We found what she really liked, looked at the price, and said "nope". Then we went back to the guy I bought her ring from (a truly wonderful shopping experience, btw--I wish everything was like that) and he showed us some cheap stuff, some expensive stuff, and then remembered about one he had custom made for someone that backed out of it. It was almost exactly like the one that she really wanted, but better diamonds. It was also 1/3 the cost of the others. Win.

My ring was whatever the price of gold was at the time, I can't remember. I looked at a lot and a lot of different materials before I settled on this one. It is the only piece of jewelry (other than a watch) that I'll ever wear, so I wasn't going to get one I wasn't happy with.

We are going to get a cheap steel band for both of us for our honeymoon though.

mtn

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #15 on: October 09, 2015, 10:59:12 AM »
Oh, and my personal opinion for anyone thinking about what to get--styles go in and out. A single round solitaire never will, whether it is a nice one, not nice, cubic zirconia, or granite. Aside from that, the "big rock" of multiple on a ring is the one people hone in on. Don't waste money on the secondary rocks, spend it on the one that "matters".

This advice was unmustachian and consumerist driven. But there it is.

Ceridwen

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #16 on: October 09, 2015, 11:09:09 AM »
DH and I were 25 when we got married, and it was easy for him/us because I wanted a sapphire instead of a diamond.  He spent 1.2K on it (which still to this day feels like a lot for a piece of jewelry) and I love it, going on 10 years now.  My best friend has a 10K diamond ring and it's gorgeous, but I would never feel comfortable wearing it.  It's too flashy for my taste, and I'd be so afraid to lose or damage it.

Avidconsumer

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #17 on: October 09, 2015, 11:24:25 AM »
280$ on two white gold wedding bands. Mine was more expensive as well.

Metta

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #18 on: October 09, 2015, 11:34:06 AM »
No engagement ring for me. We spent $35 on a very tiny gold wedding band for me and no wedding band for him. It seems to have done the trick. We've been married for more than 35 years  and are happy not to have the burden of keeping track of an expensive piece of jewelry. Happily none of my jobs have required that I have an expensive ring.

ShoulderThingThatGoesUp

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #19 on: October 09, 2015, 11:57:16 AM »
Like $110 or something. She picked it out on Amazon. When she was pregnant and had food poisoning and swollen fingers she threw it across the room and lost it. Don't care. We're going strong.

rencelas

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #20 on: October 13, 2015, 04:21:14 PM »
$2k on an heirloom ring from an estate in town. Worth every penny. She loves it, it is beautiful, and I could afford it.

My wedding ring was $10 from an art fair. Hers was maybe $250? for another heirloom rose gold ring.

maco

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #21 on: October 13, 2015, 04:54:24 PM »
Huh. Mine has no stones, it's a simple gold claddagh knotwork design. It's perfect. I have no idea how much he spent, but I can tell you it wasn't outrageous. 
If someone cares about the size of your ring rather than the happiness in your marriage, they aren't worth your time.
Mine's a white gold claddagh that my dad bought me when I was 18 or so. It moved to the left hand when I got engaged.

Pooperman

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #22 on: October 13, 2015, 07:14:29 PM »
About $800... for all three rings. She picked out her set (blue and white synthetic diamonds in white gold). Mines plain white gold. A rings a ring.

PFHC

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #23 on: October 14, 2015, 01:36:21 AM »
$600 for my wife's engagement ring. Boast a massive .3 carat diamond.
$17 for her wedding band. Machined it and inset a rivet of 18k gold.
$0 for my band. Machined it out of a busted head bolt from a ship I was working on.

My wife wouldn't trade her rings for all the diamonds in the world. Mine has traveled from Europe to the US on its own and miraculously made it back to me. I would have been heart broken if it hadn't made it.
« Last Edit: October 14, 2015, 08:15:50 PM by PFHC »

AllieVaulter

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #24 on: October 14, 2015, 09:50:47 AM »
My wife wouldn't trade her rings for all the diamonds in the world. Mine has traveled from Europe to the US on its own and miraculously made it back to me. I would have been heart broken if it hadn't made it.

This sounds like a cool story.  How did that happen?

PFHC

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #25 on: October 14, 2015, 08:36:06 PM »
My wife wouldn't trade her rings for all the diamonds in the world. Mine has traveled from Europe to the US on its own and miraculously made it back to me. I would have been heart broken if it hadn't made it.

This sounds like a cool story.  How did that happen?
I was coming home from a job off the coast of Terrance Bay, Namibia. Look it up. It is on the edge of the Namib Desert infinity miles from everything. You fly out in a 10 seat plane and land on the freaking beach. From there a chopper takes you out to the ship. This is because the coast is so rough and weather so shit that boats don't run there (that area is called the Skeleton coast because, if you shipwreck there, you are dead as all get out). The only inhabitants are lions that fish and hyenas that apparently eat rocks and sand. Pretty wild. To get home, you do that it reverse, then fly from Walvisbaai to Windhoek, Windhoek to Amsterdam, then Amsterdam to a few connections and home. Just takes around 64 hours. NBD.

So, during my layover in Amsterdam, I took a shower because the airport in Walvisbaai and Windhoek were pretty hot. During my shower, like I always do, I removed my ring. By this time I was 30 hours into my trip, so brain function was in survival mode. I dressed, finished my trip home, passed out and woke up the next morning with a start. I had left my wedding ring on the sink in the shower.

I called the airport and was passed from person to person, all very helpful, but their hands were tied as it was worse than trying to find a needle in a haystack. I finally ended up at the lost and found desk. I spoke with a woman there and she had me file a report. She said they received approximately 1000 lost items per day (!), so it would take roughly 7 days to process my request. I was forlorn. No way in hell anyone was going to find my ring in all that mess.

Later that night, I logged into KLM's Facebook page. This is where it gets awesome. On a whim, I commented that I had lost my wedding ring in the shower on a random photo. I thought that no one monitors that crap and I was pissing into the ocean. When I woke up the next morning, I had a message! Someone from KLM had sent me the direct phone number to the lounge where I had showered.

I called and reached a wonderful lady named Laura Verhoeven. She had my ring behind the desk! Long story short, I had a friend from the ship who was flying home two days later through Schiphol. I asked if he could pick it up, bring it home and mail it to me. Like a true friend, he did and it arrived in the mail two weeks later.

I was stoked.
« Last Edit: October 14, 2015, 08:44:00 PM by PFHC »

AllieVaulter

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #26 on: October 14, 2015, 08:57:31 PM »
^^^Holy Cow!  That's an awesome story.  I'm also super glad I read your thread about the Merchant Marines - it complemented this story nicely. 

Thanks for sharing!

elaine amj

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #27 on: October 14, 2015, 10:21:38 PM »
Back then I really didn't understand a whole lot about the value of a dollar but even then, I had little interest in keeping up with the Joneses.

We went together and I picked out a cheaper, pretty style that was subdued. Thankfully, DH thought of my family (and his family) and insisted on a flashier ring. It was about 1 month's net income. It was a good choice - especially since my family was suspicious about his ability to support me. It did help.

I still think it's a little silly. My mom is super frugal...but cares about appearances. So there you have it.

I developed a rash to my rings after some years and eventually after about 10 years or so, I packed my rings away. Not worth the itch. I do still like my rings although I still prefer the one I originally chose :)

Squirrel away

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #28 on: October 15, 2015, 02:43:15 AM »
My engagement ring was about £1.5k but I was more frugal when we actually got married so the ring was a gold vintage one that cost around £40. :P

rockm87

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #29 on: October 15, 2015, 04:11:17 AM »
Mine was £200 (cheekily got cashback too), and our wedding rings were £500 together, which were paid for by grandparents inheritance money. (otherwise we may not have spent as much!).

you really dont need to pay more! just look after what you have,

frooglepoodle

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #30 on: October 15, 2015, 06:42:38 AM »
My DH spent about a month's gross on my ring, which was under what he budgeted but substantially more than what I felt was necessary. My parents offered him a family ring, but he'd already picked out one that turned out to be remarkably similar. It's beautiful and a classic style but 95% of the time I only wear my wedding band.
« Last Edit: October 15, 2015, 06:45:27 AM by frooglepoodle »

LiveLean

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #31 on: October 15, 2015, 09:02:49 AM »
I always love when people say, "Oh, she's such a simple, non-materialist woman. She just wears a plain, simple band."

When you know it's because she doesn't want to wear her 2-3-carat knucklebuster around on a daily basis.

I splurged for the 1.25 carat 18 years ago. My only regret is that I didn't shop at Costco. I see comparable rings there today for similar prices -- not adjusting for inflation, so really cheaper prices.

Helvegen

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #32 on: October 15, 2015, 09:26:11 AM »
We didn't spend anything on an engagement ring and our bands were 250 euro. My husband lost his almost immediately after the wedding and mine was lost two summers ago after I lost too much weight to keep it reliably on. We have no plans to replace them.

Jakejake

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #33 on: October 15, 2015, 09:44:48 AM »
When it comes to engagement rings - I'm sorry, but SIZE MATTERS.

If it's too big, it doesn't fit right under the bicycle gloves.

Wilson Hall

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #34 on: October 15, 2015, 01:52:27 PM »
Before we got engaged, my better half said that he had an heirloom ring that had belonged to his great-grandmother. He gave me the option of us going shopping for an expensive, show-it-off ring for which he would shell out two months' salary. The other option was for me to accept the heirloom ring (sight unseen), and he would take the money he would have spent on a big rock to buy us a set of bedroom furniture for our new life together.  Easy decision for me. Over a decade into our marriage, the furniture is still beautiful, functional, and, most importantly, it's something we share and enjoy.

The ring is lovely too, but it's not what's most important to me, not by a long shot.

I'm a red panda

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #35 on: October 15, 2015, 02:29:46 PM »
This is me:

Quote
7. “How do women know what their engagement rings cost? If they didn’t pick it out then do they just ask their husbands like ‘did you spend a ton on this or not?’ I have no idea what he spent on it. It’s beautiful and he’s beautiful and we’re going to be together forever so why would I go digging in asking for deets and receipts?”

I didn't buy it. I have no idea how much it cost.  How much did I spend? Nothing, it was a gift. We didn't combine finances until we were married.

I suspect in the grand scheme of rings, it wasn't that expensive; it's a .7 carat solitaire. He was a college student working just to pay tuition. However, I am sure at the time it was an incredible expense for him. I know he spent more than he had to, because the stone he wanted was in one ring, but he wanted a different setting (so I have an empty ring too from the original purchase).  The new setting is SO much better, thinner, sits closer to my hand; he knew me well.

If I had to do it over, I wouldn't get a diamond.  But I love the ring he picked for me.

Ducky

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #36 on: October 15, 2015, 02:53:02 PM »
Back a bazillion years ago it was over a months pay for my  guy. It was a very simple but  quality 1/4 carat diamond. For our 20th he surprised me with a new ring with 1.75 carats and a surprise vow renewal. I love it and I'm not ashamed to admit I like it more than the original. However its not the shiny sparkly it is the metal. The first one was gold. I have always hated gold!!! I never ever told him this because it is the thought that counts. He however over many years noticed that I  never word gold unless he bought it.  What he paid I dont want to know . He said he always wished he could have afforded something like that when he got the first one way back when. I personally thought it was very sweet of him to do the ring and a surprise vow renewal on the ship. Hes not a big romantic but when he does it he really does it. 

hernandz

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #37 on: October 15, 2015, 04:28:20 PM »
The spouse is a jewel without price, though certainly a few costs. 

I think our wedding bands cost $150, but you have to add in about another $100 maintenance cost -- his broke and mine was resized.  That comes to a mustachian $0.024 cents a day assuming we make it another two weeks before the official anniversary ;)  No engagement ring, but then again, the engagement was 48 hours.   

Pooperman

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #38 on: October 15, 2015, 07:51:33 PM »
No engagement ring, but then again, the engagement was 48 hours.

Thursday afternoon:
 'hey, want to get married this weekend?'
'Sure, I guess we should get rings or something.'
'Saturday or Sunday?'
'I'm thinking Saturday since we have to make food for the week on Sunday.'
'K'

Money Mouse

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #39 on: October 16, 2015, 09:21:51 AM »
I only know the cost of mine because I got it about 8 years into our marriage and I had to pay the bill when it came :).  $2300, less than one month net of DH's income. It's only about .7 carat round solitaire but really high quality/color. I'd rather have a smaller but super nice ring than a huge ass rock that you can see flaws on from across the room. And I don't like huge rings anyway. To me, 3/4 carat is Goldilocks...not too big, not too small, it's just right!

DH gave it to me at our favorite restaurant one night, with our 1.5 year old (at the time) daughter in attendance. DH is the least romantic person on the planet, so I didn't see it coming when the waitress popped the ring box onto the table right in front of me while waiting for our deserts to come.  When I saw it, I thought the waitress had made a terrible mistake and some poor guy was sweating it out at another table waiting to pop the question to his girlfriend. I was just about to tell the waitress "no this isn't ours!" when DH said "no, it's for you, open it".

The wedding rings were $300 at the time, $200 for mine because it had some small diamonds on it, $100 for DH's.

partgypsy

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #40 on: October 16, 2015, 10:01:44 AM »
The first ring he got me was really sweet, $350 handmade ring that he bought when he sold one of his paintings. I still have it. We eloped so we really didn't need an engagement ring, but I wanted one. My original engagement ring was $640 which was a lot of money to us at the time, probably equal to 1 month of his salary. Nine years later got an anniversary ring which was 2300? It was paid for over 2 years (main stone 1 year, setting the following year). No longer have anniversary ring (long story; it was lost, insurance claimed, spend insurance money (on part on another ring) original ring found, difficult time selling replacement ring plus had extra kids expenses, returned original ring to insurer).
Husband, though never into jewelry, wants to replace my anniversary ring because he knows it meant a lot of me. If everything works out, it will be a .74 diamond in a semi bezel setting, and hopefully will have it for a long long time! We will be married 20 years this coming spring.
My and his wedding bands were $50 and $100 (14K yellow gold).
« Last Edit: October 16, 2015, 10:56:41 AM by partgypsy »

pancakes

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #41 on: October 17, 2015, 03:20:36 AM »
I knew how much my ring cost as it was something we picked out together. He bought the diamond and I paid to have it set into a ring - though by that stage in our relationship who paid for what was neither here nor there.

I remember the jeweller being really miffed by us because we were 23 year old unemployed students who didn't need to set up a payment plan. Apparently it wasn't uncommon for him to see clients in their 30's buying similar rings (mine is 3/4 ct so nothing over the top by regular standards) and paying them off with interest. I suppose I can brag because my husband spent infinitely times his monthly salary on it?

Ferrisbueller

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #42 on: October 17, 2015, 08:56:28 AM »
Months salary in 2001 - bout $2.5k

MgoSam

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #43 on: October 17, 2015, 09:03:10 AM »
Question, as a single guy, I know very little about engagement rings, nor their significance. My understanding is that it's all bull, and the concept of 2 months salary is pure Madison Ave nonsense.

I'm wondering that should I find myself in a deep relationship where I am ready to pop the question, should I base buying a ring on my monthly salary, or what? I suppose it will depend on my future spouse's views, but couldn't this be a test for what type of spender she is? Like if she wants a massive ring, would that not bode well for the future because it may be indicative that she would prefer to have a McMansion and expensive cars and want to go on expensive vacations while wearing expensive clothes?

Mesmoiselle

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #44 on: October 17, 2015, 09:06:24 AM »
I'm shocked. I didn't think I'd be the only one.

We didn't bother with rings at all and exchanged "boops". Best money I never spent, I hate rings anyway.

pbkmaine

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #45 on: October 17, 2015, 09:13:53 AM »
It always makes sense to try and determine her views. A college friend of mine did something clever with his girlfriend. On the pretext of getting a new battery for his watch, he took her into a jeweler. The jeweler had been previously alerted to the visit, and had a salesperson steer the girlfriend over to rings. She happily tried on rings while they waited, and my friend was able to determine that she liked vintage rings with modest stones. He put that information out to his family, and was able to obtain from his grandmother, at zero cost, a lovely art nouveau diamond ring. The jeweler sized it for him, and she still wears it 35 years later.

tallen

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #46 on: October 17, 2015, 09:38:21 AM »
I'm shocked. I didn't think I'd be the only one.

We didn't bother with rings at all and exchanged "boops". Best money I never spent, I hate rings anyway.

Wondered what "boops" where so I googled it:
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Boops (/ˈboʊ.ɒps/; from Greek βόωψ boōps "cow-eye") is a genus of ray-finned saltwater fish. The genus contains two species. Sarpa salpa was once assigned to Boops

So you exchanged fish?!?

etotheix

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #47 on: October 17, 2015, 10:49:14 AM »
Question, as a single guy, I know very little about engagement rings, nor their significance. My understanding is that it's all bull, and the concept of 2 months salary is pure Madison Ave nonsense.

I'm wondering that should I find myself in a deep relationship where I am ready to pop the question, should I base buying a ring on my monthly salary, or what? I suppose it will depend on my future spouse's views, but couldn't this be a test for what type of spender she is? Like if she wants a massive ring, would that not bode well for the future because it may be indicative that she would prefer to have a McMansion and expensive cars and want to go on expensive vacations while wearing expensive clothes?

I ended up spending about 1 months salary -- but that wasn't how we determined what we were going to spend.  My now wife knew that she wanted a 3 stone ring, and I knew I was willing to spend in the vicinity of $5k.  So we went to our local jewelry store and talked to the sale rep for a while to actually see how they looked on her hand and to learn about the quality.  This was well worth our time.  In our case, we ended up learning what kind of clarity is worth paying for and that a 3/4 carat center stone looked about right, but was near the higher end of our price range.

Then, we walked out of the store and bought a ring meeting those specifications on blue nile (ended up being about $6k).  I have no financial interest in Blue Nile, but you get a significant discount (30%+ in our case) vs your local jeweler.

grantmeaname

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #48 on: October 17, 2015, 10:54:34 AM »
Question, as a single guy, I know very little about engagement rings, nor their significance. My understanding is that it's all bull, and the concept of 2 months salary is pure Madison Ave nonsense.

I'm wondering that should I find myself in a deep relationship where I am ready to pop the question, should I base buying a ring on my monthly salary, or what? I suppose it will depend on my future spouse's views, but couldn't this be a test for what type of spender she is? Like if she wants a massive ring, would that not bode well for the future because it may be indicative that she would prefer to have a McMansion and expensive cars and want to go on expensive vacations while wearing expensive clothes?
I wouldn't feel ready to marry someone if I didn't understand their relationship with money first. Especially as my life plan revolves around getting together seven figures of cash that I intend to not spend.

Or in other words: hopefully you'll know what to do when the time comes.

Mesmoiselle

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Re: How much did you spend on your engagement ring??? Article.
« Reply #49 on: October 17, 2015, 05:33:02 PM »
I'm shocked. I didn't think I'd be the only one.

We didn't bother with rings at all and exchanged "boops". Best money I never spent, I hate rings anyway.

Wondered what "boops" where so I googled it:
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Boops (/ˈboʊ.ɒps/; from Greek βόωψ boōps "cow-eye") is a genus of ray-finned saltwater fish. The genus contains two species. Sarpa salpa was once assigned to Boops

So you exchanged fish?!?
http://www.buzzfeed.com/expresident/boops-that-shook-the-world#.sa9JvmLXM