How much did/would you spend on an engagement ring?

I was very lucky.

I asked my wife's parents before I even popped the question and when they said yes my mother-in-law asked if I had a ring yet. I said no and she gave me her mother's engagement ring to give to my wife. So my wife ended up with her grandmother's ring.

She loved it!

 

2 months salary is bs. Spend what you can afford on a ring. A woman should be happy that she even got a proposal and not worried about how much the ring cost. If she asks or is worried about the price of the ring, dump her quick.

 

In hindsight, I wish I had gotten her something other than a diamond. Not to be a "rebel" or anything, but more to voice (in my own little way) opposition to the diamond cartel. The stuff they do to protect their "market" is disgusting.

 

$0

My wife's ex husband paid for the engagement ring I bought her.

 

Spend whatever you can comfortably afford. However, the whole point of the ring is for her to show her friends. If it's a cheap ring, women will talk. In the end, who cares. Make sure you have enough money saved up for the wedding, reception, honeymoon, and future home. Good luck.

 

I spent $600 on her ring and she absolutely loves it. I actually got it from Overstock.com, there are some good deals on there. Plus you don't have to deal with salesmen...

 

Around 6k. We got screwed royally though by this ******* and we're trying to get our money back. E-mail me through the board and I'll tell you where not to go.

 

How did that work out?

 

You HAVE to explain that one.

 

$5
i bought it from a homeless man in austin who found it dumpster-diving. she loved it even more when i told her the story.
spending mad ca$h on an engagement ring seems ridiculous to me. i've always thought the wedding ring would be more "important" to the woman. whatever...

 

I got screwed on MY wedding ring. I placed an order for a certian ring and we went back a couple of weeks before the wedding and they lost the order and acted like they never took it. I ened up getting one I really didn't want. I will get another one eventually, it's only been 5 years....

 

When my wife and her ex got engaged, he was in the army and all he could afford was a cheap engagement ring (like a $50 one). So when they got married, he got her a very expensive diamond encrusted band to make up for it. They end up getting divorced and obviously, she just put the ring away in storage.

When it came time for us to get engaged, we went back to the same jeweler (I think it was Samuel's in West Oaks Mall) that sold her ex the wedding band. Come to find out that they had a program where you can trade in a ring that you had bought from them on a new ring and receive 50% of the ring's value back. Since the first ring was so expensive, 50% of that was more than enough to cover the engagement ring she wanted.

Ended up using the money I was going to use on her engagement ring to upgrade us to first class on our honeymoon.

 

I really think that the amount of the ring shouldn't initially matter. If you guys are really in love then you should pay for a ring that your comfortable with paying or even buy a cheaper one put the money towards some more important stuff and when your settle down and have the money you go nice and big and give her something she would have never expected you know.

Girls that go around saying they want a ring with this many carats and cost this much is just for show with their girlfriends etc etc...

I have seen both ends of the spectrum where the guy spends a crap load on a girl and it didn't mean as much as the one that a guy had to save so long for and still didn't even add up to the other ring but it meant so much more becuase of the way it was given and the meaning behind it.

All in all it depends on the girl in my opinion. If i have the money they i will spend a crap load on the girl if i really love her. But if i don't i would want her to accept what i am giving her and realize the meaning behind it honestly. Then i'll hit her up with a big time ring or something better when the money starts rolling in.

 

Dude that sucks. Im always leary of jewelry salesman..... It makes me nervous.....

 

Just an FYI...most jewelry stores have a 100% back policy if you trade up.

 

I did the two months salary thing.

(But I got married when I wasn't earning much!).

In the end...the extra $1000 or $2000 really means nothing. I'd have frittered it away somewhere else. I bought the ring at a fancy store. They had to buzz you in...very uptight! Probably bought the cheapest ring they had! But it was a cool experience. I bought the ring i liked. When we came back to get it sized, the whole buzz-in, cup of tea, sit down with the jewler thing was pretty cool. We had fun with it.

That's the main thing, I think. Don't sweat it. Have fun. It's about the girl, not the ring.

(and codell's ring story is the best!).

 

FYI ...we weren't trading up, we were trading down, and the ring was 11 years old and damaged

 

My guess is if you're starting out by wondering how much to pay for something like a wedding ring, you're starting out wrong... but that's just me. Who cares how much it costs? If you spend more, does it mean more?

 

Yes.