Testimonial from Heather
We paid cash for my new wedding ring — today!
The Background
My boyfriend and I knew each other for 8 years and dated for a year before we decided to get married. Money was very tight so we invited close family to a small ceremony at the courthouse with a Justice of the Peace.
We didn’t have any money for a nice wedding ring since my now-husband had recently lost his job with the city. I bought a solitare ring and matching band from Claire’s that totaled less than $30. Very cheap, but hey, it worked and you wouldn’t believe the compliments I got on it!
Over the past year I have had to replace the cheap “costume jewelry ring” a few times but it was what the ring symbolized that was important to us.
How We Did It
We’ve saved little by little during the last 11 months hoping to save enough by the time our anniversary came up on August 26th.
My husband, after a year of unemployment, has decided to join the military and since we can take only one car with us, we sold the old clunker we rarely used and got enough to buy a new ring and have some leftover for fun money!
The Deal
The ring I found after shopping around was originally priced at $1500, on sale for $899 and I talked the sales rep down to $799 INCLUDING lifetime warranties for the gold and diamonds. $870 out the door cash for a brand new 1-carat diamond ring!
Good things come to those who wait! : )
Heather, husband Chris, and daughters Allison and Brooke live in Phoenix, Arizona where they live debt-free. In addition to their recent wedding ring purchase they have paid cash for their 50″ Panasonic plasma tv, new leather furniture, second car and have never paid full price for diapers!
Have you saved up and paid cash for something — large or small? Submit your story for possible publication here.
When I needed a larger size temporarily while pregnant, I got a wedding set at Target. They have cubic zirconia sets that are inexpensive and look great- much better than most fakes. I got so many compliments, on a $30 set!
awesome. my husband paid cash for our wedding rings and my engagement ring (even selling things to help with the cost). i was so glad not to have that as debt initially.
Thank you for the beautiful story! When my husband & I got engaged, we were just out of college and had very little money. His mother had an antique bracelet that had been in the family for more than 100 years. We had an amazing jeweler remove the diamond from the bracelet & put it into a setting for under $120! When it came time to buy wedding bands, we used our tax return and purchased gold bands from a small jewelery store in the mall. All total under $350, and we still get compliments on how beautiful they look and how “expensive” they must be. In my mind, priceless.
This one made me smile- my rings were paid for with cash when we were married 13 years ago! I’ve always been happy about that…
Congrats on your ring too – that’s awesome! We did the 12 mo no interest on ours and paid it off before that time but it still is a ridiculous ploy.
On an unrelated note, my husband has also been unemployed for a long period of time and we have been seriously looking at the military as an option for him. If you would be willing, I would love to pick your brain about how he got in and joined, where you found information about it, etc. My e-mail is tarab21@hotmail.com if you would be willing it would be greatly appreciated~
my husband and i chose to go the ultra-frugal route and not even get wedding rings, and haven’t missed a thing.
@Rachel, We did something similar – no engagement ring (we didn’t feel comfortable with the symbolism, cost or marketing) – and just bought two token rings off of ebay for the ceremony. I think it’s great that you didn’t bother with rings at all. None of that stuff affects the vows 🙂
This is a great story. I don’t believe in spending money on anything (haha) but I have decided that I want to spend a lot of money on my wedding ring and my house – I feel like I can pass my wedding ring and house on to future generations..so I really want to splurge. 🙂
CONGRATS!!! 🙂 You’re ring is soooooo pretty!!!
When we got engaged, my now husband had been unemployed for much of the year before. Even if he hadn’t been, I think I’d have been opposed to buying a diamond at the insanely-marked up retail prices. But one of our friends suggested a great option: a pawn shop. They had some absolutely stunning rings and stones, and I found a two-tone (gold and platinum) set that I just fell in love with. It’s not a huge stone but it’s a very high quality, and complete with resizing, we paid less than $400 for the set. I think the thing about how much “he should spend” is just a huge marketing ploy by the diamond industry, and I loved that we found something I love so much second-hand and avoided the retail world.
First, happy anniversary in a week! My husband and I were married the same day as you, 4 years ago, which is also my parent’s anniversary. It seemed to be an awesome way to honor my parents and their commitment to each other by marrying on their special day, just 34 years later!
I always dreamed of a wedding band with inlaid diamonds, but as my now-husband was still in college when we were married, I am completely content with my solid band. He had already spent almost all his summer earnings on my beautiful engagement ring! We also chose to get his ring in white gold instead of platinum, like mine. This ended up being a great decision since the white gold was a quarter the price of platinum, and his wedding band is now on the floor of the Gulf of Mexico!!! We were snorkeling on our honeymoon, he waved his arm to point to a beautiful fish, and the ring slid off his finger. We watched it fall to the ocean floor, realizing that we’d never see it again. We replaced it with a $20 sterling silver band we bought from a little stand as soon as we were on the beach!
Thanks for all the wonderful and encouraging comments everyone. I love my new ring and everything else we have saved up cash for!
My husband and I just celebrated our 20th anniversary. When we got engaged he bought me a small ruby ring for about 50 dollars. But even that small stone drove me crazy because I kept snagging it on things. So when we had the wedding I decided to only wear my wedding band and save the ruby ring for special occasions and for our future children to have. We bought a nice silver band hand-crafted in a third world country and sold through a local non-profit. After all these years I still love my ring and am still happy that the artisan who made it got a fair profit for his or her work. I’m SO glad that my husband didn’t feel pressured to give up a year’s salary on a diamond. No fancy stone could make me as happy as this simple ring has made me.
LOVE these stories!!! My engagement ring is a GIANT aquamarine surrounded by diamonds. Got engaged on my BDAY, aquamarine is my birthstone. It is the ring I have ALWAYS wanted!!! Very “princess di”. And, colored stones are SOOOOO chic!!! Hubby proposed, I found the ring, we got married… very beautiful, very thrifty!!! Thanks for sharing this “nontraditional” story!!!
My hubby was in grad school and I was in a low-paying job. My dad offered my hubby my mom’s wedding set (she was wearing his mother’s) – so we at least didn’t have that debt to start out. Now that both my parents are deceased (this year), I may start wearing my grandmother’s set as they are bigger and a platinum setting. Congrats on paying cash and not going into debt to start your life together! And please thank your husband for his service to our country as well (and you for the sacrifices you will be making as well).
I always feel sad when I hear that couples start their lives together by going into debt for a big fancy ring. My husband paid cash for my ring, but I chose a sapphire instead of a diamond. It’s beautiful, and I got more stone for the money!
Congrats! I know the feeling of how hard it is to wait (to a lesser extent!). Me and my hubby didn’t have the funds to buy a ring at the time of engagement so we had to put the ring on layaway- for 5 grueling months (!) until it was paid for. I just wish I could have been as smart as you and tried to talk the sale price down more 😉
Congratulations on your beautiful new ring! I also wanted to say how much I appreciate your husband’s willingness to serve in the Army. I hope that he finds a new sense of purpose and joy in his new career choice.
Great story!! Cash is the only way to go. I can’t imagine the stress of paying for the rings during the first year of marriage. I heard Dave Ramsey teach to not spend over 1 month salary for a wedding ring. Good tip.
Wow. I like all these stories. So encouraging for the rest of us. I’ve been paying off my debts (slowly) but it’s still progress. I too have learned a lot from Dave Ramsey.