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The original was posted on /r/bestofredditorupdates by /u/Direct-Caterpillar77 on 2026-08-16 04:00:02+00:00.

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I am not The OOP, OOP is u/FeelingWater

Me [29M] and fiancee [23F]—been engaged 1 month, she wants a "better" engagement ring

Original Post  Jan 27, 2018

My fiancee Rachel and I are not materialistic people, but somehow I am finding myself in the middle of a problem that's all about money.

I make about 95k a year and have a career with some upwards mobility. Rachel is a 911 dispatcher making around 32k a year and that's pretty much where she is going to stay for the foreseeable future. She loves her job because it helps people and I respect that. I pay more than half the rent for our pretty nice apartment and we are able to live comfortably, but frugally. I'm pretty much happy as long as I live in a nice space and I don't need to go out and do a bunch of costly activities all the time. We don't overspend on going out to eat or big shopping sprees. Planning our wedding has been similarly frugal with a 10k budget.

One area of savings was the engagement ring. Rach insisted she didn't want anything extreme, so I went with a 1 mm gold band. I think it looks very classy and clean on her, and I thought she liked it too until yesterday.

She sent me an email with some links to rings on Etsy and asked if I might be receptive to a conversation about getting a different engagement ring. One ring has seven diamonds on it. One ring is a big moissanite solitaire. Her favorite ring has three diamonds in a row on it and costs literally ten times what her current ring cost.

Is it wrong that I find this off-putting? We are very practical people and I don't think it's financially prudent to spend a ton of money on a piece of jewelry with no function. I don't like people who care more about engagement rings/weddings than the marriage. And mostly I don't want to get in a fight with my fiancee over money.

tl'dr: Should I have to buy my fiancee a diamond engagement ring? Would it be fair for us to split the cost if I do get the ring?

RELEVANT COMMENTS

Eagpt

A simple gold band is traditionally a wedding ring.  It sounds like you proposed with a wedding ring.

OOP

I was going to get a second gold band to be the wedding ring. If you google 1 mm gold band several of the pictures have the woman wearing two.

MsAnthropic

You're not very familiar with women's jewelry, are you?  Those aren't wedding rings -- they're "stackables" that are meant to be worn in multiples.  Wearing a single stackable is kinda weird.  Those are what I call "fashion rings": they're casual jewelry.

I mean, you can call a single stackable band a "wedding ring", but it would be highly unconventional.  It'd be ok if she was ok with it, but it's obviously not what she wants.

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JackNotName

According to De Beers, based on your salary, you should spend $23,000 on an engagement ring. (3 months salary, right?)

This is bullshit and a huge waste of money. Diamond prices are inflated by a monopoly.

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That said, there is a lot of social pressure around this. Someone at her work most likely made her feel cheep or unloved or both, because of how insignificant a simple gold band seems.

Talk to her. Let her know you love her. See if you guys can't find something "better" that you both feel comfortable with.

OOP

Yeah, 23k on an engagement ring would be absolutely insane. If she asked for that it would practically be breakup territory.

She didn't mention anyone at work commenting about the ring, but it's possible. I really don't want to get a new one though because I can't return the one I've already bought, and I am inherently uncomfortable with the idea that I need to get her a "better" ring since the one I picked out isn't good enough.

veronica_deetz

Wow holy shit I am incredibly against the diamond engagement ring propaganda in this country and I fucking gasped at this comment

Please note that you are uncomfortable making your (incredibly reasonable) fiancée incredibly happy because you'll lose $68 unrefundable dollars

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Jilltro

Rings on Etsy and moissanite rings tend to be pretty inexpensive. How much are we talking here?

No, you shouldn't HAVE to buy your fiancee a diamond ring and it sounds like she's not demanding one. But I think it's fair that she likes the ring she has to wear and see every day for the rest of her like, and if you can afford it, it seems silly to dig your heels in over this.

OOP

I can't link it here, but if you on Etsy and search "LE3N59-N" that's the one she wants.

Her tone isn't demanding but I can tell she really wants an upgrade.

cleveraccountname13

That one cost $695. And you are balking. She is accommodating your cheapness and you are balking. You are blowing this badly. How much did your phone cost?

sunshinenorcas

He said it's ten times more then the one he bought so he spent $60 on her engagement ring :/

Update - rareddit  Jan 31, 2018 (4 days later)

So I really took you guys' advice to heart and resolved to get my fiancee a better engagement ring. I realize that I really dropped the ball by spending less than $100 on the first ring, and that she deserves something that she loves and a ring that will last for a lifetime.

I took her to a couple of jewelry store to look at rings with a 3.5k budget in mind. She ended up going cheaper than the max budget and picked out a 3.3 carat moissanite solitaire that she is absolutely in love with. I feel like every time I look over at her I catch her staring at her hand with a goofy smile. Admittedly it was hard to spend over a thousand dollars on a cosmetic item, but it gets easier when I see how happy she is and how excited she is about getting married.

I apologized about dropping the ball on the first ring and we ended up having a 2 hour conversation about our values. She said she was hurt that I cheaped out so much and proposed with a fashion ring, but she also felt a lot of pressure to not come off as materialistic so she didn't want to complain. I opened up a bit about my family's money troubles growing up and how it's informed a lot of my current spending habits. We talked a lot about our upcoming marriage and what we want our lives together to be like.

...Then we got around to addressing the elephant in the room. Rachel told me that she thinks I think she is a burden, and that I wish she would quit her job (911 dispatcher) and get something that makes more money and has better hours. I honestly don't mind at all that she has a crazy schedule, and I think her job is very important and should be payed more, but I will admit that I have had thoughts about her developing some new skills and moving into something that makes more money. I have been feeling a small bit of resentment lately for paying a much bigger percentage of rent and bills, but I also really wouldn't want to live in a place that fits in Rachel's budget. She wants me to see that there is more to a career than the money, and that her job gives her a great deal of personal fulfillment. I'd like her to be open to the possibility of moving up the career ladder in her field, whatever that may be.

Basically there has been some resentment and differing expectations built up on both sides. Day to day we are very happy—she is the light of my life and I can say with 100% certainty that I want to be with her no matter what. But we also have some things to sort out, so I am looking into pre-marital counseling.

tl;dr: I bought my fiancee a real engagement ring that she loves, and we had a long conversation that unearthed some resentment from both of us. We are going to see a counselor to help us talk through our problem, but we are also very much in love and excited for the future.

FINAL COMMENTS

[deleted]

Definitely look into pre-marital counseling! I think you could really benefit from it as your problems are fairly easy to work through.

Congrats on the ring purchase and engagement! There's nothing better than looking at your SO and seeing them giddy and lovestruck because of something caring and loving you did!

OOP

Honestly, seeing her so excited has really helped me get more excited for the wedding. I even made my own ideas board on her Pinterest account for stuff I think would be fun to add.

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Honestly cheap ring upfront with promise we will look together is not bad idea. Plus open adult conversation needed to happen and it did.