Post # 1
Member
242 posts
Helper bee
ok, ok I’m nosy. But reading the post about early 20 brides, and they are posting $10k and up rings, I cannot help but wonder how they were paid for.
My FH bought my ring when he was 31, and spent about $7k on both the Ering and matching wedding band. He had been saving money for a significant time to get to that point, and he was very lucky to run into a 50% off sale at the jeweler, or I would have never got something as nice as I have!
Post # 3
Member
255 posts
Helper bee
My e-ring was 6-7k (not sure, he wouldn’t give me the exact number). He is a software developer in San Francisco, so that was probably 1 month salary.
Post # 4
Member
1721 posts
Bumble bee
Exactly the same. Mine was about 7K as well, which is a little over one month’s salary for him.
Post # 5
Member
9956 posts
Buzzing Beekeeper
I think you’ll find the answer to be the same NO MATTER WHAT THE AGE of the Bride & Groom, it comes down to how much income / money is at someone’s disposal…
On the most basic of levels, that would be:
Great Job = Big Bucks = More chance that the ERing will be pricey
(Not a done deal, cause of course not all folks who make / have Big Bucks buy Pricey Rings)
Post # 6
Member
3281 posts
Sugar bee
We put my ring on a 12 month payment plan so it wasn’t bad. We’re 20 and 21 and own a house, 2 cars, and have about 13k in savings with no debt and full time students. He’s a farmer and they make pretty good money!
Post # 7
Member
168 posts
Blushing bee
Considering our ages, (22, 24) You are not the only one who is surprised. I was as well with the budget my FI had saved. It ended up costing 12k for the ering and somewhere around 5k for the bands. As it turns out, he had been saving since we met.
This means my rings were paid for in cash, as the wedding will be as well. With him graduating and working full time for a year prior to the wedding, this means we will also have a downpayment for a house ready when the time comes. Honestly, I think a lot of the budget in our case had to do with his incredible budgeting abilities and selfless, giving nature. I never expected any of it, but adore his beautiful gift.
Post # 8
Member
5408 posts
Bee Keeper
All kinds of explanations (heirloom, good saver, high paying job, family assistance, etc). Or, like my dad said about everyone who drives a Mercedes when he helped me move to LA–they all must be in debt up to their asses 😉
Post # 9
Member
544 posts
Busy bee
My fiance got me oval diamond ring(over 2 ct center; gia certified; colorless; VS clarity)..I know that he paid over 25k..and he paid it in cash..He owns very successful business..so he had money to propose with a ring like that…I love him and very proud of him for being so hardworking..and of course I am crazy about my ring 🙂
Post # 10
Member
162 posts
Blushing bee
Well getting your ring at a private jeweler as opposed to buying at a retail store will save you at least half. Retail jewelry stores mark up at least 50% and sometimes 100%. My ring was appraised at $15,000 higher than it cost because we purchased from a private jeweler. I think it is mainly the lower overhead costs, esp. advertising.
Post # 11
Member
1975 posts
Buzzing bee
At the time FI proposed he was still a uni student, only working one day a week and earning $80 a week. We lived out of home and I supported him (earnt 35k a year so we had no savings). Ring is valued at $2600 so 8.12months salary.
Now 18months later he has started working but only on 38k a year. We now own (well paying a mortgage) our house and a brand new ASX as well as our 4 furbabies and paying for our wedding.
We are both 21 turning 22 this year. Had no financial help from either families.
If you want something – you work for it.
Post # 12
Member
131 posts
Blushing bee
10k? that’s crazy! young gals hit the bank! LOL
FH and I went ring shopping, not knowing the prices or anything for that matter. I actually found my ring at the first store we went to and it was a total of $2200!! Ahh! FH said ok surprisingly, we had no savings at that point, and the store had us open a wells fargo credit card for the purchase. FH has very good credit, so it was no problem. He paid a couple months payments and to be honest, I paid for the rest out of my tax return refund! I didnt want to have to pay interest after a year, so we just paid it off to get it over with.
We share our expenses already anyway since we have children. So me paying it, was just like him paying it. I dont really care how it gets paid, as long as I can wear it!
Same goes for the wedding band. I had set a budget of 500 and that is very low. I have a very unique ering setting with millgrain and pave and stuff, so getting a 500 plain wedding band just didnt look right at all. looked everywhere and found the perfect band…. for $1900! i ended up tripling my budget and FH just said “if you love it, we’ll make it work.” I had just gotten tax $ (i get better refunds since i am a single mom on paper till we marry) so I paid a huge chunk, and FH has been paying the rest off every month. we owe $75 and its mine!
So we are far from rich, not even having a wedding (courthouse instead), charlotte russe wedding dress, but i knew i wanted amazing rings. id wear them forever ya know? i never would have spent that much on a wedding dress id wear once, its just not practical for us. im not done with school, so until a couple years from now, we are struggling a bit. FH’s ring was $45 titanium and i scored with my $4100 ring set.
everyone is different, this is what worked for us. we are happy, thats all that matters
Post # 14
Member
700 posts
Busy bee
@krex: Dude – not nosy at all. I wonder the same thing myself a LOT on here — and I’m an “older” bride (35).
My FH worked his n*ds off to afford me my e-ring (which cost about $3,500), and he was bringing in around $46K/year at the time (Feb. 2011) without overtime. Neither he nor I come from disposable money, and we were also beginning to save for our first house that we planned to buy a year later (done).
Post # 15
Member
805 posts
Busy bee
we have a lot of disposable income. we both work, there’s always extra.
Post # 16
Member
4666 posts
Honey bee
He saves his money and has always had a very good paying job since he was a teenager. He’s aways been very responsible about money and savings and is not one to throw it around at all. He didn’t have to save up, the money was just there from years of responsible spending.
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