Before or after taxes?

[dmann]

As much as I LOOOOOVVVEEEE jewelery (it's my one "girlie" thing) I think rules like that are absurd. Spend what you can afford and based on what is a priority for you both.

If she is really into jewelry and you can indulge that love, go for it but IMHO it is not the best reason to start your lives together in debt.

Personally, I'd love a beautiful sapphire (and diamonds are my birthstone!) and an even more beautiful house, but that's just me.

DM

[mattkime]

get a ring from a pawn shop.

(more seriously, jewelry is a LOT cheaper used. )

[lafinfil]

Three SUV fill ups is the new measure

[Paul F.]

Since we're all trying to talk you out of spending that much, here' s another idea;

Watch a bunch of Travel Channels "Best Places To Find Cash and Treasures", and go mine your own gemstones someplace in the continental US, and spend some time with a gold pan...

It would be SO much cooler to mine the materials yourself and have a professional make the ring, than to just spend the money buying a much more souless peice of jewelry.

You may not SAVE money on the "mining trip", but at least you'll be able to tell people about the sapphire (or whatever) you pried from the earth with your bare hands to put on the hand of your beloved. AND it'll make for some great stories for your kids/grandkids some day!

[Silencio]

I talked about it with my now-fiancée, and we were both quite against the idea of dropping a load on a big expensive diamond just to make DeBeers richer. We chose a beautiful sapphire ring and platinum setting instead.

Two months salary is already absurd; three months worth is... extortion?

[M A V I C]

I tried to get my wife to go for the three month salary thing. At first she was onboard but then she found out I pay myself a very meager salary.

I spent more along the lines of 36 months.

If she's saying three months... I hate to say it, but it really doesn't matter.

[quote Silencio]I talked about it with my now-fiancée, and we were both quite against the idea of dropping a load on a big expensive diamond just to make DeBeers richer. We chose a beautiful sapphire ring and platinum setting instead.
So why not buy a diamond from someone else?

[Sam3]

My wife wanted her grandmother's ring, it felt really odd when I didn't present her with a new diamond, but that's what she had wanted,. We decided it would be better for us to put the money toward a house.

[Paul F.]

MAVIC;

Do some googling on DeBeers. There IS no one else (for all practical purposes).

There are some Russian and Canadian outfits mining diamonds, but mostly industrial grades. If you want a nice gem quality diamond, you're dealing with DeBeers.


Besides, there are so many nicer looking stones than diamonds....

[Grateful11]

Diamonique

http://www.qvc.com/qic/qvcapp.aspx/app.n....1001~3451

I spent $1500 on a loose stone and had it custom set, 21 years later about the only thing
she wears is Diamonique. You should hear the complements she gets when she goes out.

[macphanatic]

Three months is overboard: there are much better ways to "invest" that money. DeBeers drives diamond prices by controlling diamond inventory. One woman I know told her boyfriend that she didn't want a diamond after learning about the atrocities in the diamond industry.