Before you run up your credit card balance or dive into your savings for your fairy-tale proposal, you should consider how many months’ salary you can get away with putting into your engagement ring budget.
– According to the American Wedding Study at Brides, the average cost of an engagement ring in 2018 was approximately $7,800.– Yet, their 2020 data showed the average price had gone down to around $3,800.
According to Longs Jewelers, the average cost of a wedding band is:1. $1,975 for the couple2. $987.50 per ring3. $1,417 for a bride’s wedding band4. $558 for the groom’s band
Before you get bogged down in all that, you should set a budget. That budget should be based on two things only:1. The expectations of the wearer2. Your financial situation
The idea is basically that if you don’t spend one, two, or three months of your current salary on your engagement ring, then you don’t truly love your partner enough to show it.
The origin of the two-month salary rule is often traced back to the 1980s, when it became the norm across the industry. However, the actual start of this was in the 1930s.
The quality of any diamond, whether it’s a natural diamond, lab-created diamond, or lab-grown diamond, is going to be determined by what is known as the “Four Cs”:- Carat- Clarity- Color- Cut