How much did/would you spend on an engagement ring?

I spent about $175 on a purple stone - I forget what it was. My girlfriend was moved to tears.

Of course, I was a student at the time. In retrospect, I am glad I didn't have the money to spend on a big diamond. I agree with the anti-De Beers crowd. Diamonds have no intrinsic value, emeralds and rubies are prettier, and the suffering caused by diamonds is beyond words.

Lucky for me, my wife used to work in a jewellry store. A good store will have a 100% markup. Many stores will have a 4-500% markup and then sell stuff as "50% off!". Since she knows the game, she has little desire for expensive jewellry.

If you have your house and cars paid off, go ahead and spend the $5-10K that De Beers would like. Just ask yourself, "Why am I letting a marketing campaign decide how much I spend on a engagement ring?"

However, if you aren't in this situation, or even worse, you let yourself get talked into financing a ring*, just go ahead and shoot yourself. Well, in the foot, I mean.

* my co-worker was talking about doing this when he had credit card debt and they couldn't scrape together a house downpayment. After we talked him out of it, he still managed to get married with a smaller ring.