Weddingbee boards

So my BF and I have been together a bit over a year now and we've lived together for 6 months. I just graduated from college and while I was in college he always talked about getting married and that he wanted to propose to me so badly, but he didn't want to put that kind of stress on me until I graduated...so, here I am, almost 3 months after graduation, and still no ring.

I'm a photographer and still trying to build my clientelle, so I'm not making nearly as much money as I'd like. And he works for my University (don't worry--he wasn't my teacher or anything-lol!) and makes pretty good money (enough to pay the bills plus some extra). I kind of started trying to get an idea of when he was going to propose as it got closer to graduation (since he said he was going to do it after I graduated, that's pretty much all I could think about as the day got closer!), and he told me that he wanted for us to be in a good position to get married before he proposed--have plenty of money to live on our own and whatnot--which is wonderful thinking on his part! Anyway, after graduation he told me that he had been planning to propose on New Year's Eve, but he just didn't have the money to buy me a ring, which is fine, it just made the wait "indefinite" instead of just "til graduation."

So, long story short, I suppose I feel like we're kind of "stuck" in the waiting game. He keeps telling me that he wants to propose (and I know he's had it planned for a long time), but that he can't afford the ring. But seriously, my taste isn't THAT expensive. And where does all his money go? I feel like we're ganna be in this same money boat for a while, a few years maybe, especially with the economy the way it is, so it just seems like now is as good a time as any.

I hate to sound bitter or like a snob--I'm not at all. I love him so much and I know it will be worth the wait. I'm just so ready to take this next step with him and I'm so excited about starting our new life together. It just seems like it's ganna be forever until that can actually happen, and it is, as I'm sure you know, so very hard to wait. And it would be diferent if I knew, "Okay, well he's ganna do it in 6 months, or 8 months..." so on, I just need some advice on the waiting indefinitely...it's a very frustrating process...any help would be most appreciated! :)

Thank you all so much! Your comments have been really helpful and comforting!

@hazel920--I'm asked him a kind of similar question before, and he was totally okay with that if just a $200 ring from Macy's is what I really wanted (I think I used Walmart in my example :). He's all about spending less money if he can, but he said he knows me too well to think something like that is really what I would want in the long-term...so that's good...it's just so very hard to wait for the "long-term" while in the short-term.

...and I suppose it doesn't help either that, being a photographer, wedding photography and engagment portraits is one of my main sources of income...when it's in your face the majority of the time, it makes it even harder to stop thinking about it...but I suppose I can always come here to find comfort til it happens. Thank y'all! :)