Determining how much to spend on an engagement ring can be a hard thing. This is especially true due to there being many different engagement ring buying rules out there.
The most known engagement ring budget rule is probably the three month rule. This is where the engagement ring buyer determines how much to spend on an engagement ring based on what they make over a three month period.
So, if a person makes around $3,000 a month, that would mean that the engagement ring “should” cost around $9,000 according to the three month ring buying rule.
That is a ton of money for someone to spend on an engagement ring, especially when that’s just a total income of around $36,000 a year!
I am going to say OUT with this old ring buying rule.
Spending 25% of your annual income on an engagement ring just seems crazy.
Insane even.
I know I’ll probably get some flack for saying that, but I think busting your budget for an engagement ring is usually not a good idea…
Here are my tips to help you determine how much to spend on an engagement ring:
Create your own engagement ring budget.
When determining how much to spend on an engagement ring, you should first create a budget.
Throw out any rules that you have ever been given when it comes to buying an engagement ring and create your own budget.
Everyone lives different lives, and for there to be one single rule to apply to everyone just doesn’t make any sense.
When creating your engagement ring budget, you should think about:
- How much debt you have;
- How much your wedding will cost and whether you can afford it;
- How you want to start off your marriage financially;
- Whether you are making more money than you spend each month;
- Your financial goals; and more!
Save up exactly what you need before you buy an engagement ring.
Before you set out for the jewelry store, you should try to save up as much money as you can for it. This is so that you can skip the financing when deciding how much to spend on an engagement ring.
Financing a ring is something that you almost always want to skip, unless you know exactly what you’re doing, such as if you are given a 0% interest rate and you know how to 100% use it to your advantage (such as by already having that money saved up).
Financing is usually a bad idea because it can cause you to spend more money on an engagement ring than you can actually afford. When something is divided into monthly payments it may seem more affordable to a ring buyer, when in reality it is not!
Find an affordable engagement ring.
There are many affordable engagement rings out there. You don’t have to spend a ton of money on an engagement ring if you do not want to.
Also, if you want to spend a ton of money on an engagement ring, there is nothing wrong with that either! As long as it’s in your budget, you can do whatever you want to do. No one is going to stop you, but my piece of advice is to make sure that buying that expensive ring doesn’t stop you from reaching your financial goals in life.
Here are my tips for buying an affordable engagement ring:
- Buy less than a full carat size. For example, instead of buying a ring that is 1 full carat, you could buy one that is 0.90 or 0.95. This is because many diamonds are cut to the exact amount, and buying something that is slightly less means that the value has gone down. The difference is so insignificant anyways so it can be a great way to save money, and it’s not like anyone would ever notice.
- It’s not always about size. If your budget isn’t that high, it’s usually better to go for a more quality ring instead of focusing just on size.
- Buy diamonds which are eye-clean although possibly not internally flawless in order to save money on an engagement ring. Who is going to go up to the engagement ring with a magnifying glass anyways? As long as it looks great to you, I’m sure it’s still a good choice.
- Buy an engagement ring online. Buying online usually means cheaper prices and a greater selection.
- Go for something different. There’s MoissaniteCo (if I ever need a new ring, a moissanite ring is one I will probably get!) where you can get a beautiful moissanite ring for an affordable price. Or you could even go for a different gemstone and save money over having a diamond.
How do you think a person should determine how much to spend on an engagement ring? How much have you spent on an engagement ring or how much is the one that you’re wearing?
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Even as a kid, I thought the three-month rule was kind of ridiculous. We spent about $800 on my ring. I didn’t want a huge chunk o’ diamond, since I was sure it’d catch on everything. I chose a flatter design with a bunch of little diamonds. Lessened the price considerably, and I think it’s more unique.
My husband’s engagement ring — I wasn’t going to be the only one tagged as unavailable — we bargained down to $1,000. Not ideal, but it’s really quite lovely and still being worn every day. The wedding bands were about $200 each. He actually lost his band during the move (kind of my fault because I kept putting off getting it resized due to the cost). So a new one is a cool gear ring that moves, which is great for his fidgeting. I think that was $250.
In other words, we spent less than one month of his salary for 5 rings. And even that much I felt a little embarrassed about, given that money was tight.
Awesome job on saving so much money! Definitely no need to spend any more, especially if you don’t want to.
I think your point about taking into consideration how much the wedding will cost is so important. So many people get engaged, buy a huge ring and then can’t afford the wedding they want. I see so many nice rings at Costco for less $1,000. There are also tons of used ones online that have nothing wrong with them!
I don’t have an engagement ring and don’t miss it, but if you’re going to buy one, this post is full of great tips!
Thanks Zina!
I love my wife, and she loves her ring but we both agreed that if we had to do it all over again (together) an expensive ring and fancy wedding really are low priorities.
I wish more people realized this.
Three months sounds insane, that’s like a mini house deposit for some! I could not expect someone to spend that much money on a ring especially when there are so many other priorities. Having said that, if I wanted an expensive diamond I’d rather go buy it myself when I’m financially secure enough. My husband purchased my ring for around $1000 and we chose it together, and our wedding bands cost about $300 for two.
Sounds like a great value 🙂
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with talking about it to them. Who cares!? Do whatever you want to do. 🙂
Yes, your ring sounds awesome!
Spending a huge amount of money on the engagement ring is crazy. There is beautiful affordable jewlewry out there. I couldn’t imagine my hubby spending 3mos salary on a ring! I have a list of things I could spend three mos salary on! My ring and the two matching bands were just under $500 and that was agreeably enough. It’s hard enough to make a life for yourself these days nevermind spending a crazy amount on a piece of jewlery.
I agree Andrea!
Personally I would never purchase a diamond online. It is bad enough looking at them in a jewelry store under their ideal light. I went a round about way and purchased from someone who is the evil “middle man” all the commercials warn you about. The advantage to using this guy was I was buying at cost (since he was doing us a favor as a family friend) and I got to see the stone in natural light as well as artificial light. I am happy with my choice and so is my old lady. It will pretty much be the only piece of jewelry I will ever buy her.
I’ve heard of several people buying rings online and they’ve never had a problem. I would definitely want lots of pictures of it though, and possibly a video.
When we got married we put our money toward a down payment on our first house so I had a gold band with carving which I loved….still do but my fingers got too fat to wear it. However, I told my husband that I expected a diamond {someday}. So 32 years later, he received an inheritance. We invested about half of it and with the rest he got me a 3.2 carat rock that never fails to receive compliments. We had our house paid off, and zero debt. And we already had reserve funds and investment accounts in place so spending the money for the ring didn’t really deprive any other need of funding. I have to say that although it may be shallow of me, I look at my ring every day and love it. But not as much as I love my husband!
Sounds like you took a good path. I don’t see anything wrong with what you did. I bet your ring is beautiful!
I lost my ring years ago. I was sick at the time, but it wasn’t very expensive, it was more the sentimental value. That was 12 years ago. While I would like to have a nice ring, over the years I’ve come to realize I’m not sure I want to spend a load of money on a new ring. I’m happy with my $60 James Avery silver band!! To be honest, I’d rather have a new Mac computer!
Yes, a new laptop would be great!
Happy 9-year anniversary! Wedding ring is really an important thing to keep us reminded about our vows to our partner. I actually did not consider the cost of it because the moment I and my wife decided on the wedding ring we have now is like the perfect choice for both of us. We were lucky that the rings fit in the expected budget.
Good job on staying within your budget!
Engagement ring costs is always an interesting discussion. DH and I discussed a budget and he actually went a little over it, but still stayed in the affordable range. He did finance for 12 months at 0%, but we paid it off in 3 months. We have used 0% financing in the past, but we always make sure to pay it off well in advance. I don’t normally advocate financing or credit, unless you really know what you are doing and can implement enough self control to pay it off/not pay interest.
Yes, 0% interest can be great if you know what you are doing. Wes and I have taken advantage of that in the past before as well.
Thanks Neil!
Great tips to save on this important purchase in life … great post!
I’ve recently joined different Facebook Garage Sales groups local to my area and I was surprised at how many people sell engagement rings in there. If you’re thinking about buying a ring, join a couple of those groups and keep an eye open. People are selling theirs for much less than what they were paid for. They are selling them for a few different reasons I’ve seen. Some, obviously, have had engagements fall through and others are upgrading rings and selling their old one. If you go this route, be sure to ask for a receipt just to make sure it’s not fake.