Average Budget?

[the other Jake]

What do you think the average budget is for an engagement ring? I am a 22 year old grad student and I thought that I had done well to save up $8,000 towards my purchase. Since I became a member at price scope, now I have regrets and I''m feeling as if maybe I should have spent more on my ring...

 

[SoonIHope]

Your ring is going to be GORGEOUS, and that is a VERY respectable budget for anyone - let alone a 22 year old grad student!!!! Don''t worry about it, just remind yourself that PS is a tiny tiny minority of the general population - the "average" budget is more like $2,000 I think, out in the real world!!

 

[pyramid]

Your budget is quite high by pricescope standards and is even higher for a 22 year old student. Remember a lot of the larger diamonds being bought on Pricescope are people who have been married for some time getting upgrades. From reading these boards for a while I would say of the top of my head that the average here is about $5000 - $6000 dollars for newly engaged younger couples and more for professionals in employment like lawyers, engineers.

 

[Kaleigh]

I think for a guy that''s 22 and a grad student your budget is huge!! The ring is going to be amazing!! Stop doubting yourself!!

 

[jrob529]

I think you did an exceptional job with the selection of your ring. Your 22 and saved 8k, that''s pretty amazing. Don''t have any regrets. Buyers remorse sucks, I just purchased an e-ring and I''m second guessing myself. At some point, you just have to trust your judgement.

 

[diamondseeker2006]

You did a fantastic job! That is quite a budget for someone your age! But she will be thrilled! You should feel very proud!

 

[Cehrabehra]

pfffft 8k for a grad student is awesome!!!! plenty you have to remember - reality has been suspended here

 

[phoenixgirl]

All things are relative . . . when I read

22 years old

grad student

*saved* the money

I thought, what a wonderful budget you came up with!

$8K for a 35 year old making in the six digits . . . maybe that''s a different story, but that''s not your story, so be proud. Your lady is lucky to have you! And hey, maybe she''ll want to have a say in upgrading down the road, so if she wants bigger, that can always come as an anniversary gift.

 

[the other Jake]

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I REALLY appreciate it.

 

[Silverkae]

8k for a grad student is a huge budget. My ring cost half that & I still feel a twinge of guilt for having my fiance get it for me. But I do love my ring!!! It''s just perfectg and I had it custom made so it will be exactly what I want. My fiance is bad at finances and saving up so I had put the purchase on my card and he''s paying it off - so it''s a win/win situation! Your girl is so lucky! It is very hard to save up that amount of money especially when you are still in school! And your ring looks like it''s going to be beautiful!

 

[Cehrabehra]

Date: 11/14/2006 6:39:20 PM
Author: phoenixgirl
All things are relative . . . when I read

22 years old

grad student

*saved* the money

I thought, what a wonderful budget you came up with!

$8K for a 35 year old making in the six digits . . . maybe that''s a different story, but that''s not your story, so be proud. Your lady is lucky to have you! And hey, maybe she''ll want to have a say in upgrading down the road, so if she wants bigger, that can always come as an anniversary gift.

maybe LOL I know plenty of 35 year olds who think 8k for a *diamond* is ridiculous!! My dh is one of them!!! I spent it anyway

 

[ladykemma]

when my hubby and i were just starting out we spent 500 on a diamond, top notch tiny quarter carat. I''m wearing it now. it was all we could afford.

be proud of your accomplishment, impresses the heck outta me!

 

[aljdewey]

Date: 11/14/2006 6:39:20 PM
Author: phoenixgirl
All things are relative . . . when I read

22 years old

grad student

*saved* the money

I thought, what a wonderful budget you came up with!

$8K for a 35 year old making in the six digits . . . maybe that''s a different story,

Gotta say again (similar to another thread), I really bristle at the idea that a budget can be deemed appropriate or not by such scant and ridiculous criteria.

Being older and/or making more is not the ONLY criteria relevant for whether or not one''s budget is "heatlhy" or appropriate.

 

[Adylon]

Average budget?

Guess who is the leading seller of diamond engagement rings in North America?

WALMART!

... Now they only have 3% of the market (which shows you how diverse the market is with lots of healthy competition, small privately owned shops, etc). But the next one on the list I believe was Bluenile with 0.8% of the North American market share. BlueNile's average e-ring is around $5k I believe... So basically Walmart sells 4x as many rings as they do, probably in the $500-2000 range... so the "average" for North America is probably right around $1200 give or take.

 

[monarch64]

Date: 11/14/2006 8:49:15 PM
Author: Cehrabehra

Date: 11/14/2006 6:39:20 PM
Author: phoenixgirl
All things are relative . . . when I read

22 years old

grad student

*saved* the money

I thought, what a wonderful budget you came up with!

$8K for a 35 year old making in the six digits . . . maybe that''s a different story, but that''s not your story, so be proud. Your lady is lucky to have you! And hey, maybe she''ll want to have a say in upgrading down the road, so if she wants bigger, that can always come as an anniversary gift.

maybe LOL I know plenty of 35 year olds who think 8k for a *diamond* is ridiculous!! My dh is one of them!!! I spent it anyway

Wow, my DH was 32 when he proposed, and was making 6 digs... his budget was a firm $6k for the diamond, plus $3k for my plain plat. setting and both our wedding bands! He''s 36 now and I still haven''t even THOUGHT of approaching him re. an upgrade, lol!

 

[ladykemma]

Date: 11/15/2006 2:18:56 AM
Author: monarch64

Date: 11/14/2006 8:49:15 PM
Author: Cehrabehra

Date: 11/14/2006 6:39:20 PM
Author: phoenixgirl
All things are relative . . . when I read

22 years old

grad student

*saved* the money

I thought, what a wonderful budget you came up with!

$8K for a 35 year old making in the six digits . . . maybe that''s a different story, but that''s not your story, so be proud. Your lady is lucky to have you! And hey, maybe she''ll want to have a say in upgrading down the road, so if she wants bigger, that can always come as an anniversary gift.

maybe LOL I know plenty of 35 year olds who think 8k for a *diamond* is ridiculous!! My dh is one of them!!! I spent it anyway

Wow, my DH was 32 when he proposed, and was making 6 digs... his budget was a firm $6k for the diamond, plus $3k for my plain plat. setting and both our wedding bands! He''s 36 now and I still haven''t even THOUGHT of approaching him re. an upgrade, lol!

hunney assuming you have your own income, that''s whe you start buying your own stuff!

actually, he bought all the rings for about 10k. that''s about the number what i was thinking for the winternight thread about budget.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 11/14/2006 5:27:45 PM
Author:the other Jake
What do you think the average budget is for an engagement ring? I am a 22 year old grad student and I thought that I had done well to save up $8,000 towards my purchase. Since I became a member at price scope, now I have regrets and I''m feeling as if maybe I should have spent more on my ring...

No way Jake. As has been said, many of the bigger rocks are upgrades for us old marrieds, you have a great budget and produced a fabulous ring from it, be pleased and proud of it, you should be!

It seems you are ahead of the curve with budget, it does seem as Pyramid pointed out ( Hiya Pyrrie!) that around the 6k mark is usual.

 

[pyramid]

 

[the other Jake]

I just wanted to make sure that I got something that she and I could be proud of. I know there will ALWAYS be someone that has bigger, nicer, better, and more expensive things so by no means am I trying to compete. I just wouldn''t want someone to be viewing her ring and think to themselves something like.... "wow that diamond is yellow and cheap looking"

 

[jaz464]

Date: 11/15/2006 8:12:04 AM
Author: the other Jake
I just wouldn't want someone to be viewing her ring and think to themselves something like.... 'wow that diamond is yellow and cheap looking'

Ain't gonna happen. Not very many people out there have a beautiful ACA H&A like you got for your hunny

The cut quality of yours will out sparkle over 90% of the diamonds out there.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 11/15/2006 8:25:33 AM
Author: jazmine

Date: 11/15/2006 8:12:04 AM
Author: the other Jake
I just wouldn''t want someone to be viewing her ring and think to themselves something like.... ''wow that diamond is yellow and cheap looking''

Ain''t gonna happen. Not very many people out there have a beautiful ACA H&A like you got for your hunny

The cut quality of yours will out sparkle over 90% of the diamonds out there.

Ditto - no way no how! Other people will be looking at your GF''s ring and thinking how incredible it looks , especially compared to theirs!

 

[flower12]

22 year old grad student and $8,000 budget for E-ring is sounds LOT to me

 

[pyramid]

the other jake

At first I even thought to say, it was too much, given student loans, you would want accommodation, wedding etc. but then I thought depending upon what you are graduated in you may get a good salary when you start working, you may have no loans, wedding maybe a bit off etc. but decided to say nothing because I thought if you managed to save $8000 as a student you would probably be okay gathering money together for other things in your life.

$8000 is a lot, most young couples are probably in full-time work when they pay $6000.

 

[the other Jake]

I was just unsure about the I color. Rockdoc said "The colorimeter see the stone as an H to H-I my eye, sees it through the side as an I, but it does face up better as shown in the colorimeter scans"... Some articles say that color is appearant in stones of these type and others say that a J is acceptable for almost all viewing conditions.

 

[*Sparklelover*]

My husband and I just purchased a diamond for me after fifteen years of marriage. We both make excellent incomes. I was in charge of the budget since it is now OUR money. The majority of my friends have 2 ct. rings, but the diamonds don''t sparkle! I chose a triple 0 cut 1.15 with an A Jaffe setting and paid a little over your budget for all of it. I couldn''t be happier or prouder to wear it. People definitely are noticing it because of the sparkle. Your budget is perfect for a quality ring that anyone would think is wonerful. Congratulations and good luck.

 

[RockDoc]

Hi Jake.....

Think you know I wouldn''t lead you astray.

Also you should feel really confident that you got a good price and a lot of discounts, from WF.

If you did this in the B&M environment, this probably would have been $2500 more - conservatively.

In addition, you have all the upgrade policies, if for some reason your finances change.

You marry the girl, not the ring.

Rokdoc

 

[Phoenix]

$8k for a 22 year old grad student! That''s a HUGE amount for anyone''s e-ring (well, most people''s I know) let alone a 22 yr old grad student. It has been said before PS is a tiny minority of the population and most of us here with larger stones are older and more established (a lot of us here seem to have got smaller diamonds for our e-ring). I would be very proud if I were your FI to have such a thoughtful man who has worked so hard to save so much money given your age and the fact you''re just starting out and have so many other things to worry about (student loan, rent etc.). And here you are again worrying about whether you''ve spent enough! You''ve spent plenty...more than enough...enjoy your ring and enjoy your life together. Your ring is a symbol of your love for her and judging from what you''ve said so far,, you''ve got plenty of love...so don''t worry, be happy!