Do you have a jewelry budget?

[yennyfire]

Do you have a yearly budget or do you save for a few years between purchases or do you tend to make mostly impulse purchases?

How do you decide what your budget is going to be (if you have one)?

I tend to rationalize with myself (i.e. I don't get my nails done at a salon, I get my hair cut 4x a year at a low cost place, I shop at TJ Maxx, etc.) so I save quite a bit of money on a regular basis...if I want to spend a couple of thousand dollars on an eternity band, so be it. Of course, I struggle with feeling guilty about spending $$ on myself...it's $$ we could put towards college funds or retirement....it was much easier when it was just DH and me...we both worked and we had no one else to think about....with two young kids, I struggle between really wanting "X" piece of jewlery and thinking "it's just a thing (albeit a pretty one!) and I don't NEED it"....

 

[MichelleCarmen]

I would never make an impluse fine jewelry purchase! I'm just not enough of a jewelry person to spontaneously blow a thousand or more on a diamond. Usually I just wear my wedding set and my diamond studs so *if* I were to buy something, it would be thought on for a while. But, right now our savings is dedicated to a house or condo. I'd NEVER EVER take $ from there to buy a diamond!!! I'd rather put every bit into funding that. A relative of mine just paid off her house and that's very much a goal I'd love to achieve someday.

 

[Lady_Disdain]

I have a "luxury" budget that covers non-essentials: eating out, books and cds, clothing, etc. Some of it goes towards jewelry and stone purchases. Some stones are semi-impulsive buys. When Brad or Barry have a drop, I have a maximm amount in mind that I could se to buy something (usually a stone type I have researched before).

 

[yennyfire]

Before finding PS, I was like you MC, but somehow, seeing all of the lovely pieces folks have, I've become a bit more impulsive. However, both times (a diamond eternity band and a pink sapphire eternity band), I returned the pieces because they weren't the quality that I wanted. I had the diamond band made a few months ago and the pink sapphire band is being made now. For me, that's about as impulsive as I get. I too, would love to pay off our home and get the retirement fund full before I spend much more on jewelry.

It's certainly tempting though...

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Without a budget, I tend to save/invest every penny possible, to the point where I would curtail fun things or not get anything for myself. Setting a luxury budget I can afford (after I have paid all my bills and saved enough money to meet my goals) has improved my quality of life a lot

 

[marcy]

I had a second job which made it easy for me to have jewelry spending money. Sadly I lost that job in May. Now I don't have that extra cash so it has been more difficult for me to justify buying jewelry this year. I will have to find ways to save for jewelry in the future. Rats.

 

[Haven]

We budget for items once we decide we want them, so we don't stash money away for them in an ongoing manner. When we're not saving up for something special, we just put it all in savings.

I like doing it this way because it delays the gratification, and all the time we spend saving up for whatever it is we want to buy acts to make me even more excited about getting the item when we have the cash saved up to cover it.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Before finding PS, I was like you MC, but somehow, seeing all of the lovely pieces folks have, I've become a bit more impulsive. However, both times (a diamond eternity band and a pink sapphire eternity band), I returned the pieces because they weren't the quality that I wanted. I had the diamond band made a few months ago and the pink sapphire band is being made now. For me, that's about as impulsive as I get. I too, would love to pay off our home and get the retirement fund full before I spend much more on jewelry.

It's certainly tempting though...

Yeah, it is hard with seeing all the beauties here on PS and not being tempted. I forgot: I did spontaneously buy a Roberto Coin pendant one day. I had wanted one and just decided I would drive to the mall and get it. It was an okay decision as I loved it and wore it often while it was in style. Those seem kind of dated now (IMO) so I sold it and used some of the money to get a new LCD computer monitor, printer, etc. lol

 

[kittybean]

DH and I both get monthly "fun money" that we keep in separate accounts (the rest goes into our joint account). We use our fun money accounts for things like trips with friends (like guys' trip to Mexico or girls' trip to Vegas), gambling (for him), clothes and shoes (for me), football season tickets (him), jewelry (me), and gifts for each other (to preserve the surprise factor).

I usually use part of my yearly fun money for jewelry purchases, but I don't start saving up until there's something I decide I want. Right now, I'm saving for bezel studs, but it'll be a couple more months before I'm ready to buy. I don't really make impulsive jewelry purchases--I mull an idea over for weeks or months before I decide to start saving for it.

 

[kenny]

I have never budgeted or planned anything financial.
I just make very very conservative financial decisions.

I'm sure all those financial planners with their fancy calculators would have told me all my life that I save too much.
Oh well.
So far so good.

 

[Imdanny]

I, too, struggle with feelings of guilt, related to whether money spent on jewelry, a luxury, could be better spent "in our relationship" or for the benefit of our future.

I definitely am in the category of people who have to save for a few years, and consider what I want to buy very carefully, before buying it.

In fact, after I get my ring, it will probably be some time before I allow myself to get another piece of jewelry from my favorite jewelry house. You know, I mean there are so many bills to pay and future obligations that buying jewelry has to be, for me, put into a context of what I can truly afford. It's not always easy to know where this line is, but as I have become older, I have become more conservative about it.

 

[luv2sparkle]

This is a very interesting topic Yenny, and I would be interested to know if/how much people put aside for this. A few days/weeks
ago there was a thread in hangout wanting to know if people were doing the Dave Ramsey money makeover plan. I said it was
not for me, because I hate the envelope thing. Just a few days later, my DH started talking about wanting to do it. So now I am
back there doing this crazy weird budget, and right back to this problem. How much to spend on myself. Frankly, I so never
wanted to do this because if I don't have a set amount, I just purchase with pretty much no guilt. Now, I seriously have to plan.

We don't have a huge amount of debt and have the savings to cover it, but I liked my security blanket of the good size savings.
Now everything will be divided and put into accounts for specific things. UGGGhh! This is important to my DH, to have our
mortgage completely paid off so he can retire, but right now I am not happy about it. I know this will make us in a even better
position financially and I really like that part. I would much rather just buy one big thing a year..

I have no idea how much to put aside for myself. DOES ANYBODY HAVE AN AMOUNT TO SHARE PLEASE!!!! One hundred, two
hundred, three hundred....what is a reasonable amount. I don't usually spend much on myself ever. I don't buy a lot of clothes
or stuff. I feel guilty setting any amount.

 

[Yimmers]

Well, if there is something in mind that I want, I figure out how much it will cost, and start putting away money each month for that project. Right now, I've got four extra diamonds from my old band. I'll probably create a stacking band or a RHR with a gemstone with those diamonds. More likely, a bezel diamond and sapphire band, so I won't have to buy too many extra diamonds/sapphires. If I put away, say, $100/month, I'll probably have enough to make the band a year or so.

 

[yssie]

I have long-term goals and less pricey short-term ones. If I find a good deal or the 'perfect thing' from my short-term list I'll usually just get it, whenever and wherever it happens to be, so I suppose one might consider that impulsive.

My long-term wants, though, are definitely things I need to save long and hard for! I hardly ever have buyers regret these days as I have learnt to never purchase something that is not on my lists without sleeping on it for a good week or month or so, and I find that usually that first flush of desire disappears in a few days.

I'm not much of a quantity person, which definitely helps curb any potential impulsiveness.

 

[AprilBaby]

We are at a point in life where we are pretty financially set. Three kids done college and one has a year to go. We both work and we put them all thru private school their entire life. House is paid off. I can pretty much buy whatever I want, but I don't really want anything. I would rather get jewelry for my daughter and daughter in law.

 

[yennyfire]

Aprilbaby, you are so sweet to want to purchase jewelry for your daughter and daughters in law....want to adpot me??

Luvtosparkle....long before Dave Ramsey, when DH and I got engaged (more than 10 years ago), I insisted that we budget so that we could figure out how much we spent, how much we could save, etc. I created a budget spreadsheet and entered each and every receipt so that I knew exactly how much we had spent in each category. We did that for 6 months to see the trends and then stopped. We had our financial planner automatically deduct a certain amount from our bank account after payday. In that scenario (which was before kids), I had budgeted $200 a month for "miscellaneous" purchases, which included gifts, entertainment, restaurants, etc. Some months it was fine, others, I was out of $$ by the middle of the month. I hadn't found PS at this time, but if I had, this is where jewelry would have been and I can tell you now, I would have been in a lot of trouble, lol!

When we had our first child and decided that I'd stay home with him, we again did our budgeting excercise and boy, what a different experience that was!! Down one salary and add-a-kid and there wasn't much left for the "misc." fund! I probably need to do our little experiment again now, as we no longer have any car payments and are down to one private pre-school tuition (son started public kindergarten this year)...we could probably start sending in double mortgage payments towards principal each month so that we could pay off our mortgage that much faster.

Yssie, I'm with you on quality over quantity and there are only a few pieces that I still want: another diamond eternity band to complete my "sandwich", a blue sapphire eternity band to "commemorate" my son's birth, and a pair of antique diamond earrings. These are the pieces I can see myself actually purchasing over the years. However, looking at all of the gorgeous pieces people have, I may change my mind, lol!

 

[geckodani]

We budget for items once we decide we want them, so we don't stash money away for them in an ongoing manner. When we're not saving up for something special, we just put it all in savings.

I like doing it this way because it delays the gratification, and all the time we spend saving up for whatever it is we want to buy acts to make me even more excited about getting the item when we have the cash saved up to cover it.

This is what we do as well, and it works out pretty well. For the most part I save money from my personal monthly cash allowance. For some purchases (like my reset) we used money from the common fund.

Edited a bit.

 

[tyty333]

I dont have a budget...and I mean that in a bad way! I'm a stay-at-home-Mom so I have to wait till big birthdays and
big anniversaries. We just had our 10 year anniversary a couple of years ago and I got my 5-stone. I have a big
birthday coming up next year...so I'm planning on something big for that but after that I think its going to be dry
for a while .

Financially we're in pretty good shape (knock on wood) but since I dont work and have no reason to be wearing large
jewels everyday...it just doesnt make much sense for me to spend a lot of money on them (except for the fact they
make me feel good ).

 

[yennyfire]

You hit the nail on the head tyty (at least my head). I don't have the lifestyle for a jewelry collection, but they make me feel so good. Even when I'm feeling fat and having a bad hair day, when I put on my wedding set, it makes me smile!

 

[Italiahaircolor]

This past summer in Las Vegas I spied a really beautiful eternity band in a jewelry store window. I loved it. I tried it on, just for fun. I'm not a really impulsive person when it comes to big, big ticket items. I knew I wasn't buying it, it was just to much $$$ to spend on a whim, but still it called to me. My husband snuck back later that day and bought it for me.

See...heres the thing. It's just us, we have no children. We live well within our means, and we have a habitual habit of padding our savings accounts. We'll splurge on big ticket items like cars and vacation, because it's mutually fun. I've never in our entire relationship bought myself jewelry for the heck of it. But, my husband (God love him) explained it like this, and hopefully it will resonate with you...

Sometimes, just because you can, is reason enough why you should. You work so hard and in life you should have things you enjoy and appreciated. Every time you look at it, remember that.


My .02, go get your ring!

 

[canuk-gal]

HI:

Can't say that I do.

cheers--Sharon

 

[luv2sparkle]

You hit the nail on the head tyty (at least my head). I don't have the lifestyle for a jewelry collection, but they make me feel so good. Even when I'm feeling fat and having a bad hair day, when I put on my wedding set, it makes me smile!

Wearing my rings while on the eliptical helps me get through the workout!

 

[luv2sparkle]

I dont have a budget...and I mean that in a bad way! I'm a stay-at-home-Mom so I have to wait till big birthdays and
big anniversaries. We just had our 10 year anniversary a couple of years ago and I got my 5-stone. I have a big
birthday coming up next year...so I'm planning on something big for that but after that I think its going to be dry
for a while .

Financially we're in pretty good shape (knock on wood) but since I dont work and have no reason to be wearing large
jewels everyday...it just doesnt make much sense for me to spend a lot of money on them (except for the fact they
make me feel good ).

That's us too! I got my rings for our 30th anni. I wore my previous set for over 25 years.

 

[tigian]

This past summer in Las Vegas I spied a really beautiful eternity band in a jewelry store window. I loved it. I tried it on, just for fun. I'm not a really impulsive person when it comes to big, big ticket items. I knew I wasn't buying it, it was just to much $$$ to spend on a whim, but still it called to me. My husband snuck back later that day and bought it for me.

See...heres the thing. It's just us, we have no children. We live well within our means, and we have a habitual habit of padding our savings accounts. We'll splurge on big ticket items like cars and vacation, because it's mutually fun. I've never in our entire relationship bought myself jewelry for the heck of it. But, my husband (God love him) explained it like this, and hopefully it will resonate with you...

Sometimes, just because you can, is reason enough why you should. You work so hard and in life you should have things you enjoy and appreciated. Every time you look at it, remember that.


My .02, go get your ring!

Italia, you've got to post some pics of your eternity ring. I'm sure it is gorgeous. No fair keeping it from us.

 

[TravelingGal]

I get a nice bonus every year and buy jewelry if something really catches my fancy.

Having a daughter made it much easier to justify buying bling.

 

[junebug17]

No, I don't really have a budget. I got a 1 carat band for my 10th anniversary, and a small tennis bracelet for a birthday years ago. And my husband did surprise me once with .50 diamond studs about 7 years ago. I lost my ering diamond years ago, so I wore a vintage ring from ebay for many years (not complaining, it's very pretty, was a good deal and I still wear it on my right hand sometimes.)

I have received a bit more bling in recent years. I got a wedding set on my 25th, and this past year got 1 ctw studs. And for Christmas my husband gave me a .75 OEC pendant (well, ok, I picked it out!). These recent purchases were relatively inexpensive in the world of diamonds, but I feel a little uncomfortable and guilty when I add up what has been spent on diamonds in recent years. My husband is supportive and wanted me to have these things, and we now have the money for items like this, but I still feel funny spending so much on jewelry. So no, no budget and I think I'm done with big jewelry purchases.

 

[yennyfire]

I'm finding everyone's perspective really interesting. Part of what makes this an "issue" for me (i.e. the conflicted feelings) is that my Mom has almost no jewelry. She told my Dad that she didn't want an engagement ring b/c the one she'd want would be out of his budget (this was over 40 years ago, btw), so she has a plain gold band. She has a couple of other small pieces. My parents could have easily afforded nice jewelry, but my Mom always had the attitude that it was better served going towards college funds and retirement (kind of how I feel).

HOWEVER....in the past 10 years or so, she's told me on more than one occasion, that she wishes she'd taken my Dad up on his offers of jewelry when they were doing really well financially (my Dad recently had his second kidney transplant and the cost of that and the 20 medications he takes on a daily basis has really hit their savings account). She keeps telling me "don't go crazy, but don't deprive yourself....so, I guess I'm struggling to figure out what feels right to me. There's no question that we are not prepared for retirement yet (we're on track, but the more the better as far I'm concerned) and we do have college funding taken care of for both kids. We give to several charities (though we could always give more)....so how do you decide what's enough for you and what you're comfortable with?

 

[Gypsy]

Impulse purchases are not satisfying for me. I tried it twice once for 60 bucks and once for 300. I never wear the pieces. I really enjoy plotting and planning my buys and when I do there is a lot of satisfaction in owning something I've wanted for a while. That said, I have no budget and get my pieces when a bonus or something comes along.

 

[marymm]

I know how we spend our money would be much much different if we had children, or had to support our parents, but I don't think we are extravagant; it's just the way we allocate the money pie. It's just my husband and me, and we live within our means. We love to travel and try to take a "big trip" every three or four years. Other than that, we rent (no mortgage payment), our cars are used (paid off), and we cut / color our own hair. Clothing is bought when we need new jeans or new work clothes because what we have is too raggedy. DH's family is comfortable financially, but my family has needed some help through the years so some of our money has gone in that direction. There are three charities we support each year. Other than those obligations and regular contributions to our savings and retirement funds, we feel comfortable spending money on "quality of life" stuff, like our hobbies and personal interests. We have some museum and park memberships, we'll see a matinee play or movie every other month or so, DH has regular poker nights with the guys and occasional tickets for live sporting events, and I put most of my hobby money to gems and jewelry. Sometimes I save it up for a larger purchase and sometimes I'll buy several little things at once. Now and again I go beyond what I've set aside (in my head) and then I wait til I'm in the black again. DH is the same with his poker budget (but he is almost always ahead, lucky guy).

While jewelry or other collections / hobbies are not necessities, they add beauty and education and fellowship to my daily life. Honestly, without the "extras" like books (usually from the library but sometimes from Amazon) and music (concerts, CDs) and, yes, gorgeous glorious gemstones, some of life's color would be missing for me.