Valentines’s day is one of many days a year when people spend obscene amounts of money on romantic items. This year, jewelry stores were offering 0% financing for twelve months with the purchase of an item amounting to $1500 or more.
This financing comes in the form of a store credit card which can only be used at that store.
According to credit.com, in 2015, the average cost of an engagement ring is approximately $5200 and almost 13% of couples choose to finance that amount.
A couple would be hard pressed to find an engagement for any less than $1000, which makes the financing option more desirable to those who would like to propose but do not have the funds available.
To avoid spending so much, some couples choose to go with a hand-me-down ring or purchase antique rings off sites like Etsy – private vendors and often have negotiable prices.
Despite the seemingly unreasonable prices in the popular jewelers, there is a logical and organized system to pricing rings.
If there is a thicker gold band, the price increases. And the diamonds are assessed with the four C’s of diamond quality: cut, color, clarity, and carat/weight.
The engagement ring has become one of the most well known symbols in western culture, but very few people actually know the history of them. Traditionally, engagement rings did not have diamonds at all.
Cave men tied grass around their life partners wrists and the Egyptians were buried with gold an silver rings on their left hand to symbolize their commitment to another being.
After that, women were given gold rings to wear at special events to show her loyalty.
The first engagement ring that featured diamonds was created for Archduke Maximilian of Austria when he proposed to Mary of Burgundy in 1477.
Unfortunately for the buyer, the diamond is only the beginning to the monstrous costs of the average modern day wedding – amounting to about $26,000.
According to Melissa Taylor, an efficient at all seasons weddings, there’s no need to spend that much, “There are tons of nice and inexpensive ways to have a wedding.”
She adds that there has been a lot of clients who choose backyard weddings to save some coins.
An interesting article from Bridal Guide online, suggests choosing to have less guests and having an outdoor reception, would allow the bride and groom to potentially come out of the financially draining event, having only spent $5,000.
