$18k engagement ring too much?

I looked you up. You aren't trolling. You are, however, one of the strangest unincarcerated persons on earth. Good luck to you and your arc.

I make about 95K in a medium sized city... Lets just say I'm comfortable. I only spent $500 on the engagement ring because she really didn't want something crazy looking. Furthermore, I actually won the certificate it at a local race. Took her on a 4k trip because that was more her style. Case in point, know your target.

Similar story here. Got my bride a VS-1 "I" round deep cut for 1-1/2 months salary at the time. Diamonds were $44 per point back then. She liked it, but I don't think she appreciated the rating as much as I thought she would. 35 years later instead of the wedding ring she likes to wear the birthstone ring I gave her that holds hers and our kids' birthstones. The only thing she wants from me now is doing things together. If the op's girl has her head on straight the cost of the ring won't matter as much as the comfort and security the groom can provide over the years.

Colton . wrote:

want to propose by september. even if i did ask her, im 100 % sure - knowing her - this is the answer i'm going to get " anything you think that looks good on me".

what do you guys think, i have no debt other than a construction loan on a home i'm building

ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha... whew.

Colton . wrote:

i simply dont know what is the right price to buy

That is impossible to answer. Get a nice ring. One that you think is nice. One that she will think is nice (personally, she and I went ring shopping together. I didn't want to get a ring that didn't match her tastes). I spent considerably less than that and probably make more than you.

She should have a ring she will wear. If she won't wear it because it's too much money then it's a bit of a waste, IMHO.

You can solve the problem with a common law arrangement and actually use the money in a productive fashion.

Shoebacca wrote:

If you get the diamond from Blue Nile or James Allen and then have a local shop stick it into a band of your choice, you'll save a ton of money.

I don't think many women actually appreciate the finer details of a diamond. Pick a good ring setting and pluck a diamond of adequate size into it.

Its a terrible investment.

-50% of marriages end in divorce , thats the national average. She keeps the ring.

-$18k will help with the new house down payment or fix up the one your living in.

-If she is demanding a big ring now, you will never see the end of it on additional demands

-$3k ring is enough or just a plain wedding band

No, No, No.... Now you are talking real money! Be thoughtful, not excessive. Diamonds are the worst trick ever pulled over on us as consumers! Talk to her, come up with an alternative, or agree on tastefully less. You will both be better for it. Good luck and have fun.

Sasha Pachev wrote:

Anecdotal evidence:

Spent $35 on the engagement ring. 21 years later still married. 10 kids, expecting #11. 45 years old, can still run a 1:16 half. Wife runs too, 42 years old, just did 7:59 mile at 20 weeks pregnant in the 11th pregnancy. I promise this is not a troll, just Google my name if you have doubts :-)

Cannot promise the same results just off the same investment, though, you have to do other things to compliment it.

Remember this - with your income, she will have to work some likely unpleasant job to pay off the $18K debt you are about to pick up. I would recommend trying to get creative and find other ways to express love and commitment that do not make the jeweler rich at the cost of making you and your wife broke.

Very similar story. Well, we spent $15 less on silver bands and had about 15 fewer children, but we are blissfully married 16 years in never considered buying diamonds.

Yes 18k is too much just for an engagement ring.save that money when you buy her the marriage ring.

No offense to anybody who does it...but I find expensive wedding rings to be about the biggest waste of money on the planet. It's literally something that provides zero value to either of you unless it's such a cheap ring that it makes either of you unhappy to look at it. You can easily rind a beautiful ring for $3-5k and if that's not good enough for your prospective wife then it might be worth reconsidering the implications of how difficult it will be to keep such a woman happy through marriage.

The ring I bought my wife cost me roughly $2.5k...$1800 for the ring itself and $700ish for the "center stone" that was Moissanite (basically a fake diamond but much higher quality than Cubic Zirconium).

My wife gets compliments on the ring all the time and to the naked eye it's impossible to tell the difference...I did tell her that the center stone wasn't real and she doesn't care at all because I paid for our honeymoon and another trip to Hawaii with the money I "saved" from buying a real diamond of the same quality (which would've cost $5-10k)

I love that there are diamond ads on this thread now. I see you Ritani! (or they see us!)

That being said, I spent $13K on my wife's ring a few years back. She loves it, obviously.