Go to overstock.com. they have like 1k rings for like 180 dollars.

My engagement ring only cost my husband $62 after tax, with real diamonds and everything, whatever (He got it at Zales). There are things out there called "sales". Almost every jewelery store has them at one time or another. I also went with my husband when he picked out my ring. He asked me to, because he wanted me to get something I liked. I made him have the final say after me telling him a few different ones. I wouldn't let him spend more that $100 on it anyways. We weren't very financially stable at the time, but engagements can last awhile. We were engaged for almost two years before we tied the knot. On my wedding band he spent like $48 at Walmart. It has CZ in the band, so it blends well with my engagement ring. (I wear both, with the wedding band on the inside closest to the heart) He spent $50 on his wedding band and had it engraved with "love knows no distance" because he enlisted in the Army just before we actually got married. We spent less than $200 on three different rings, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I love HIM, not the piece of metal on my finger. (oh, not to mention I let him buy a ps3 a lcd tv, a wii and a bunch of shit during our engagement, because it makes him happy and its something we can enjoy TOGETHER) Even now that he has a well paying job and we are alot more secure financially I don't want another ring from him, because the one I have now is a reminder of our lives together. Plus, anything bigger or more expensive I would be ******* afraid to lose. I would feel a whole lot more awful if he had spent a shitload of money on something so materialistic and I had lost it.. I don't like throwing money away on items, when you can get something just as meaningful at a fraction of the cost.

Op, we live in the modern era. Women are not sold and kept for their dowery, we are not exchanged for sheep. With this said, why does he have to pay for the whole thing. It is his job to make you happy, not to be your slave. In times when we have the luxury of marrying for love (and complaining about money online) don't you think its time to grow up and realize Disney movies are not what happens in real life. Your boyfriend is not going to starve for three months so you can have a rock the size of your inflated ego. It is an ENGAGEMENT ring, the training wheels of a marriage. You wear the ring, spend time getting to know each other better, and then have a wedding. I understand wanting a nice ring and most men want their future wives to have the best, but what about the men/women you are going to marry? Don't you want them to be with you, not some empty, meaningless rock. It only holds meaning if someone you love gives it to you, if you aren't marrying him for love, friendship, and wanting to help him/spend your life with him, then you don't deserve that ring. Buy a fake one from Wal-mart and no one will notice. It's just a rock, some minerals, and a lonely existance from the way I see it. Take the man and not the ring, you can't have great sex, a life, children (if you want them) and support with jewelry. You can't grow old with a ring, it will never change, never be warm and never be a person.

OP makes me think of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNv12uzQLbU I wonder how true to life that really is.

Why the **** would you want him to go into debt over a stupid piece of jewelry, anyway? Because "YOU DON'T LOVE ME UNLESS YOU BUY ME A DIAMOND THAT KILLED AN ENTIRE AFRICAN VILLAGE," of course. Too bad this guy doesn't know what a shallow person he's getting involved with. Grow up. YDI.

don't marry him. if he's this lazy and cheap, he's not worth the time. $200 is NOTHING when looking at engagement rings.. unless you don't want a diamond.. maybe you'd rather have your birthstone or a sapphire??... his price is unreasonable.. if you really can only spend $200 on it, then skip a diamond and get something else that you can spend $200 and it actually be visible to the naked eye... you're not going to find a real diamond for that much.

don't expect an expensive ring unless the man is well into his late 30's or has a REALLY good job. and even at that point, don't expect it unless you've expressed to him (clearly... not bullshit woman "hints") that you like the bling. generosity is based on percentage, not a set standard. if you were to at least casually mention that your boyfriend is VERY well off... then i might sympathize with you.

Materialistic little twat. I got engaged, and frankly, if he did not have a ring, that wouldn't have bothered me! There are plenty of beautiful reasonably priced engagement rings around, that do NOT need to have a months salary put down on it! You should be HAPPY he proposed! Proposed does not mean a ring, it means he asked you and you said yes. If he knew your attitude towards a "cheap" ring, I hope he dumps you.

it shouldn't matter how much but there should be some effort. asking ring size etc is not him trying IMO. on the others hand there's folks where 6 months salary which is what the store told me I was supposed to spend would buy a home. my fiancée now wife wouldn't have felt comfortable wearing a 100k on her finger. there's two sides if he tried be patient, if it was an afterthought it's just not that imortant to him

it's supposed to be a symbol of love and commitment, not of how much money is put on it. why are you moaning that he proposed? O_O my fiancé and I went ring shopping together, found a beautiful ring for £115. don't be such a money grabber, or he might just change his mind. no-one wants to marry a gold digger.