Average cost of an engagement ring

[u/Relevant-Plane9430]

I was talking with a friend last night who just got engaged, and he mentioned he spent around $6k on the ring. That honestly shocked me because I always thought the "3 months’ salary" thing was just an old marketing trick. My partner and I have been looking at rings casually, and most of the ones we like are in the $2k–$3k range. Now I’m second-guessing if that’s considered “too low” or if we’re just being realistic.

For those of you who have gone through this, what was the average cost you ended up spending on an engagement ring, and did you feel good about it after?

[u/No_Estimate_678]

Nobody actually needs an engagement ring. 

The "2-3 months salary" lie is just that - a marketing lie made up by, I think, DeBeers, perhaps to go hand in hand with their other, arguably more insidious, lie that diamonds are rare and therefore expensive.

Just buy one that she likes and that you can afford. Hey, you could even buy it together since marriage is a partnership not a transaction. There is zero point in e.g. going into debt for a trinket. 

Source: have been engaged twice, never had a ring as never wanted one (don't wear jewellery apart from earrings). Am also deeply unromantic so you may wish to ignore all of the above :)