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It's a hard question to answer, it's like asking "How much should I pay for a house"? So much depends on your circumstances. I've heard $2,000 thrown around and that may be fine, but it may be way too much, or it may be an amount that you don't even think twice about. Get her what you want to get her but also consider your means...no need starting a new life together awash in debt. Keep in mind that you should spend what you feel comfortable spending; not what the diamond industry tells you, not what friends and family tell you, and not what you feel is expected from you. Only you can decide. I do agree with the posters that say if the girl is that focused on the cost of the ring then it may be sign of bigger problems.
Best of luck, being engaged is a fun time and hopefully just the beginning of much more.
As little as you can get away with, without making her mad. lol If I were getting married I wouldn't want an expensive ring, I'd always be terrified of losing it or of someone mugging me for it. Maybe I'm weird.
my gf is NOT materialistic (not that i know of) but i WOULD like to know how ladies 'think' about this subject.
Unfortunately, I think that if you ask 20 different women, you'll get 20 different answers.
My engagment ring cost my ex-husband about $15,000, as near as I can figure. I know that after we separated, I had it appraised and it appraised at just under $9,850. It had not been AT ALL what I had wanted or asked for. I'd asked for a band with maybe some small channel set stones that would double as both my engagement ring and my wedding band. He wanted me to have a separate engagement ring. So I showed him one I liked that had a retail price of $1800. His quote, "Oh, honey, I would never buy you a ring like that!" And instead he went and spent thousands of dollars on a 1.25 C, emerald-cut stone, FIF, on a white-gold band with 8 additional diamonds surrounding the center stone. It was lovely -- beautiful. Classic, elegant, and obviously quality. But I'll confess that when I first saw it, my first thought was not "How beautiful!" but rather, "There's the new deck for the house."
At the time that I was getting engaged, I had a female boss who told me that the engagement ring is FAR more about the guy than it is about the girl...that it's a status thing for the guy, because it's a symbol of the guy's success. And I think she might have been right, because there were times right after we got engaged when my husband would say, "Let's go show off your ring."
Sad thing is, after we were married, I didn't wear the engagement ring much. It wasn't that it wasn't beautiful. It was. I loved it. But I'm not much of a ring person, and I was content to simply wear my little $400 wedding band (and which I bought for myself, incidentally).
Is there anyway to get a good feel for what your GF wants or is expecting? Does she wear jewelry a lot? Does she like "the finer things" or does she strike you as being more practical? Maybe an examination of those questions could give you some insight into what your GF would want.
The appropriate amount is what you can afford and not the size IMO. Personally, if my husband to be was planning on spending BIG bucks on a ring I would tell him to apply it towards a down payment on a house. Expensive jewelry is not very important to me since I don't wear much anyway but everyone is different. Check out a few rings together to see what she likes and go from there. Good luck.
Spend the money on a downpayment on a home or gold/silver/platinum instead. These are tough times and will get tougher. If she's that materialistic -- next!
What are the future plans? I mean, does she have a career? If she becomes pregnant will she be a SAHM? When it comes to buying toys will yours always supersede hers? Will you buy her jewelry in the future if she likes that kind of thing?
I'm thinking depending on what the goals are in the future and oh, lets say, possible sacrifices.............you might need to get a big ol' rock. Just cause she might not see anything like that for quite some time.
OTH, the 25 cents ring in the gumball machine can also be acceptable.
hi,
Given the economy and such, what is "appropriate" to spend on a ring?
I do know that you can spend as little as 450 and as much as 250k on a ring....but as many would agree, the size of the ring doesn't say much other than you have money.
i CAN afford up to 2500 but i'd like to know whether it is worth spending that much on a ring or whether it'd be better to spend about 1000 on a ring and save the rest for....well, other things.
my gf is NOT materialistic (not that i know of) but i WOULD like to know how ladies 'think' about this subject.
thanks.
I think you've bought into the propaganda that says you must buy your fiancee an engagement ring or you're a bad boyfriend. If you need to buy her love and agreement to marry you with a ring, then she doesn't love you.
hi,
Given the economy and such, what is "appropriate" to spend on a ring?
I do know that you can spend as little as 450 and as much as 250k on a ring....but as many would agree, the size of the ring doesn't say much other than you have money.
i CAN afford up to 2500 but i'd like to know whether it is worth spending that much on a ring or whether it'd be better to spend about 1000 on a ring and save the rest for....well, other things.
my gf is NOT materialistic (not that i know of) but i WOULD like to know how ladies 'think' about this subject.
thanks.
My advice is for you NOT to buy an engagement ring (yet) ! Not until you have dated at least 2 years (because it takes that long before you both let your guard down and get beyond trying to impress one another) , and, not until you have both gone thru a very intensive PRE-MARITAL formal Course after which time you may decide NOT to get married to this individual. Do this NOW, before moving to the next step of engagement which will cause you a sense of commitment to follow thru on getting married. Have you had sex yet ?? If so, the statistics show that you now have lessened your chance of a successful marriage by another 25% because you didnt wait. So, whats your response on what ive just posted ?
Price shouldnt matter, you should give from the heart. I hear stupid things like the ring should be three times what the guy makes in a month or something dumb like that. People should be concerned about the marriager. The ring is just a ring. Just my opinion though. Since your gf isnt materialistic Im sure she wont mind what you get her.
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Check out a few rings together to see what she likes and go from there. Good luck.
