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how did you or your fiance pay for the engagement ring?

L

Laytiffany

Rough_Rock
Joined
Feb 18, 2012
Messages
22
Did you finance it? Put it on a credit card? Pay in cash? Just wondering how people pay for an engagement ring... thanks
 
He bought it from Jared ( :rolleyes: not my choice but whatever), and he opened a store credit card because they offered him 1 year interest free. He had the cash to buy it outright, but it made more sense to put it on the card and save the cash in the bank.
 
We are saving at a snail's pace to pay in cash.
 
For all my jewelry we have put them on credit cards because we love the points :bigsmile: but we have always paid for the bill in full when it comes. I'm not a fan of financing anything unless it is house or a car.
 
i bought it outright.
 
Credit cards and financing are terrible ideas unless you have the money to pay it off in full before you get hit with interest.

A luxury item with no practical use (and this from a diamond addict) is not something to go into debt for. And frankly neither is a wedding.
 
My original e-ring and subsequent upgrade (in avatar) were paid for from the proceeds of a one-hit-wonder stock pick my husband made. He also used some to pay down our mortgage.

The rest of my jewelry I bought myself. Some with the proceeds from a favorable real estate transaction, and the rest from my regular professional salary. Sometimes I'd also use parts of bonuses (eg: save some, spend some).

I often pay by credit card for the protection and points. But I avoid carrying a balance.

Anne
 
We charged it for the points but we had the cash already in the bank and as soon as the transaction hit the card we paid it off. We don't finance things (with exception of a house and a car) but if we don't have the cash, we don't buy it.
 
My FI paid in cash by wire transfer.
 
My hubby saved up and paid cash.
 
Gypsy|1388631021|3584570 said:
Credit cards and financing are terrible ideas unless you have the money to pay it off in full before you get hit with interest.

A luxury item with no practical use (and this from a diamond addict) is not something to go into debt for. And frankly neither is a wedding.
Click to expand...

Amen! Too many young couples start their married lives in debt and the stress that comes with it... Don't spend it if you don't have it.
 
I think it's very smart to pay with a credit card for the added protection (as long as you can pay the bill fully).
 
Laila619 said:
I think it's very smart to pay with a credit card for the added protection (as long as you can pay the bill fully).
Click to expand...
Stupid question: what is the added protection? (vs a wire transfer to a reputable PS vendor)
 
teobdl|1388635088|3584607 said:
Laila619 said:
I think it's very smart to pay with a credit card for the added protection (as long as you can pay the bill fully).
Click to expand...
Stupid question: what is the added protection? (vs a wire transfer to a reputable PS vendor)
Click to expand...

I would agree that buying from a reputable PS vendor by wire is the better choice. But buying from unknown jewelers, a credit card might be good if you found yourself needing to dispute the charge for some reason. Moral of the story, never buy from unknown vendors!
 
We got engaged in my husband's last year of college and he borrowed the money for the ring from his parents and paid them back in full over the next year. I think if a couple is young and the guy doesn't yet have the savings to spend on the ring but they are ready to start planning their life together, it is fine to pay a small amount of interest to be able to go ahead and get engaged. It worked just fine for us as we have been married over 30 years and have no debt other than a mortgage (pay cash for new cars, no college loans for our kids, etc.).
 
If you pay via wire transfer to a reputable PS vendor...besides reputation I do not believe there is added protection, correct?
 
I started out with a $95 white gold band, we then saved up for a year and paid cash for my .90 RB. Then 7 years later we paid cash again for my upgrade to 1.41, and then at nine years we paid cash again for my 1.80. We have never gone in debt over my ring or my upgrades. It's just not something we want to pay interest on for 20+ years.
 
teobdl|1388635088|3584607 said:
Laila619 said:
I think it's very smart to pay with a credit card for the added protection (as long as you can pay the bill fully).
Click to expand...
Stupid question: what is the added protection? (vs a wire transfer to a reputable PS vendor)
Click to expand...

You can dispute the transaction if they give you a faulty/incorrect product and refuse to fix the situation. Even reputable PS vendors mess up from time to time.
 
Alias|1388637141|3584623 said:
If you pay via wire transfer to a reputable PS vendor...besides reputation I do not believe there is added protection, correct?
Click to expand...

There is no "added" protection, no. Like Laila said, you can dispute the charge, but it's a lot easier to do that with a credit card. I paid for the ring with my credit card (as I do with everything) and then paid it off at the end of the month. I've been doing this since I graduated high school. I only spend what I can back up with cash and then pay it off without accruing interest. The added protection, points, and benefits to credit score make it well worth it to me. Plus, they keep lowering my interest rate for having good credit, which means that I'd pay less if I really had to go into debt (which is normally a terrible idea with a credit card).
 
we actually sold my little old car to be able to pay cash for the ring. Hubby was getting a company car so I took his car and we didn't need mine. Bought a antique ring from a jeweller, three stone totalling a carat. Loved it, have since upgraded but it is still around waiting for a daughter-in-law!
 
We got engaged when we were eighteen, and hubby was earning a crazy low wage (not even minimum) and so he went to the local chain jeweller with the deposit that he borrowed from his sister to get my ring. We financed it, and paid it off over two (i think) years, and if there was interest it wasn't much (it was probably 0% interest as they usually have that going). I am not apposed to using finance but if there is interest there is no point....
 
smilligan|1388642968|3584664 said:
Alias|1388637141|3584623 said:
If you pay via wire transfer to a reputable PS vendor...besides reputation I do not believe there is added protection, correct?
Click to expand...

There is no "added" protection, no. Like Laila said, you can dispute the charge, but it's a lot easier to do that with a credit card. I paid for the ring with my credit card (as I do with everything) and then paid it off at the end of the month. I've been doing this since I graduated high school. I only spend what I can back up with cash and then pay it off without accruing interest. The added protection, points, and benefits to credit score make it well worth it to me. Plus, they keep lowering my interest rate for having good credit, which means that I'd pay less if I really had to go into debt (which is normally a terrible idea with a credit card).
Click to expand...

I guess it depends on how much the diamond costs, because mine would have been $1000 more if paying by credit card. That would have not been very smart, in my opinion! Why would I need added protection with vendors like Good Old Gold and WhiteFlash who offer an unconditional 30 day return policy for in-house diamonds? I'd much rather pay the wire price and save the money! (I wouldn't bother on small items under $1000 or so, though.)
 
-Bella-|1388643496|3584668 said:
We got engaged when we were eighteen, and hubby was earning a crazy low wage (not even minimum) and so he went to the local chain jeweller with the deposit that he borrowed from his sister to get my ring. We financed it, and paid it off over two (i think) years, and if there was interest it wasn't much (it was probably 0% interest as they usually have that going). I am not apposed to using finance but if there is interest there is no point....
Click to expand...

I am going to give another point of view on that. If one saves for two years before buying the diamond, the diamond could easily increase in value enough over the two year period to equal the amount of finance charges if the stone was bought at the beginning of the two year period (assuming a reasonable, fairly low interest rate). So it isn't necessarily a bad idea to go ahead and purchase a diamond if there is a low interest rate option and the couple is ready to be engaged otherwise.
 
Cash or Credit Card (but had cash in bank).
 
Paid with credit card that was pretty much immediately paid off. It was easier than doing the wire transfer thing, plus the store we bought it from didn't have a wire transfer discount so it made more sense to get credit card points.
 
There is always the "start small" method, too. Pawn shops have smaller diamonds, under .4ct, of decent enough cut and some of those solitaire rings will sell for $250 - $500. Less than best cut, simple setting, small size, secondhand: Those keep the cost down. Or get a sim or a colored gem.
 
My e-ring stone, the most expensive, was paid through bank wire to GOG (they have a bank wire discount). We paid cash for our other stones, and I paid using credit card, paying back immediately, for other eBay purchases.

I agree to not pay interest on loans for something extraneous like diamonds.
 
My husband just said "you need to post again, you paid via wire transfer for this stone, we charged the first one and paid that off, and you charged and paid off the bands, but we definitely wire transferred this stone because I was mad I got no points." I apparently completely forgot about that but he's right, we did wire transfer to GOG for this.
 
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