[Thestral]

Just curious for a current and local tidbit of information regarding how much couples are spending on engagement rings... my SO and I have been discussing engagement etc and the thought of how much he/we have to spend on a ring has been plaguing my mind as we are also buying our first home... it seems that most couples I know tend to spend more than $10k! Whereas I was thinking a couple of thousand...

Thoughts? Opinions? Thanks!

[Nanns]

Whatever you feel comfortable spending.

I think the ads say around 3 months salary?

[PatG]

around $1500

[Matthias' mum]

Can't remember exactly, but I think it was about 10k. We had each already purchased houses though. If we were starting from scratch, there is no way I would have spent so much. I'd rather a house then a ring!

[skylark]

I reckon you just pay what you can afford comfortably (ie no debt, no forgoing necessities), if a ring is something that's important to you. FWIW mine cost way under a thousand, I didn't really care about having a big diamond or any of that, and once we were married I stopped wearing the engagement ring because the wedding ring was the one with real meaning to me. It's very personal I think, and honestly not something that should depend on what anyone else has/does.

[PixieVee]

The ring I told my partner to get me is about $800 for the engagement and wedder set. I know that's not the usual, but I would feel terrible aking him to spend so much on jewellery when he is not very well paid.

PS. I completly LOVE the set, thankfully I am quite well versed in jewellery (even before I was working at a jewellery store) and was able to find something for a great price that I think it so beautiful.

PPS. Last night I had a dream that my boyfriend proposed with a hideous ring that had a faux pearl on it that melted when I took something out of the microwave

This post has been edited by PixieVee: 05/05/2012, 05:51 PM

[junebuggy11]

I worked in jewelry retail about 10 yrs ago, and then the 'rule' or guideline was approx 3 months salary as the ball park figure.

We spent about $5000 on mine, and we bought it together, so we put 50/50 in.

It is a really personal decision. I spent a lot more then some of my friends, and a lot less then others. I've never found another ring I liked better, and it's exactly what I wanted, so it was worth it for us.
Don't be swayed by what other people do or say, you have to live with the ring, both on your finger, and out of your finances!

[Onyx]

Spend whatever you can afford.
Mine was $5000 I think. I don't remember.

[bikingbubs]

Mine was just under $4k. It was what we were happy to pay at the time and I got the exact ring I had always wanted
I think just buying one within your budget is the most important thing, not what everyone else is doing!

[Giltine]

My original ring cost $200. I lost that one after about 12 months and my replacement cost $500, but we got it for $300. No diamonds, just silver and opals.
Anything more expensive and I'd be too paranoid to wear it! I've already had the opals in this one replaced once because they all smashed. Luckily replacements are free from the place we got it.

Friends of ours just paid $30,000 on an engagement ring. Seriously insane in my opinion, but each to their own.