to finance or not to finance?

[paps]

So my missus has put up with me for nearly 5 years and is banging on at me to get her something shiny.
So I've been looking at diamond engagement rings and I've raided the savings account. I reckon £3k should get what I want.
My question is do I try haggling for discount with cash or take advantage of their "0% finance" offers?
I guess it depends on whether I can get any money off for cash, if not I guess I'll go with the finance.

Your wisdom please?

[P-Jay]

Yes, you're spending too much.

[mx stu]

Depends how much cash you've got in savings. If less than, probably, £10k then I'd go 0%, knowing you could always pay it off if you want. If over £10k in savings see what discount you could get for cash.

[paps]

£3k is all of my savings, although I've got joint savings of over £10k with my missus.
Think I might go with Finance in that case.

[cossy400]

£3k

Mrs400s was £1400

and she picked it, was very happy with it too.

[BoRED S2upid]

£3k on a ring is a lot and a big risk, what if she doesn't like it? I bought a single stone (There are guys on PH's that can help) then she could spend weeks designing her own ring and get someone to make it for you. A LOT less than a £3k ring will be I can garantee.

I got married on Saturday so it obviously worked for me.

[Xaero]

I used quidco to get cashback on the engagement ring I bought online. It was less than half of what you're planning on paying. I assume you earn around £40k+ a year in order to justify that amount? Don't forget you need some left over for the other ring and party

£3k will buy you a lot of diamond/s, it's easy to go overboard. If you have the option of 0% finance then go for it, but I wouldn't want to pay interest when you already have that cash saved up.

[Muzzer79]

paps said:

So my missus has put up with me for nearly 5 years and is banging on at me to get her something shiny.
So I've been looking at diamond engagement rings and I've raided the savings account. I reckon £3k should get what I want.
My question is do I try haggling for discount with cash or take advantage of their "0% finance" offers?
I guess it depends on whether I can get any money off for cash, if not I guess I'll go with the finance.

Your wisdom please?

Odd question.

£3k is a lot to spend on an engagement ring, but if you have that kind of cash spare then just buy it outright.

Unless, you can do something better with the money that will get you a return on it. In which case do the finance.

If you can't afford to to just drop £3k on a ring in one hit FFS don't finance it....

[paps]

I kind of figured I should spend 2 months wages. I'm sure thats the general rule on how much to spend?
I'm hoping I'll only ever have to one of them so I'd make it a good'un. Design wise, I've got a very clear idea as to what she wants because shes told me. I'm looking for around 0.5 of a carat as clean and colourless as possible, brilliance cut and set in a platinum band.

If i don't spend the cash then I'll look to invest it somewhere........ like an MX5

[keith333]

Spend as much as you can! If she's the right one and you're going to spend 30-40 years together, then investing in a beautiful engagement ring is a great thing to do. My wife gets comments all the time about her ring (single diamond solitaire) and she loves it.
Note I'm not a jeweller, just a happy husband :-)

[paps]

keith333 said:

Spend as much as you can! If she's the right one and you're going to spend 30-40 years together, then investing in a beautiful engagement ring is a great thing to do. My wife gets comments all the time about her ring (single diamond solitaire) and she loves it.
Note I'm not a jeweller, just a happy husband :-)

My thoughts exactly. As I said i'm only gonna buy one of these things so i'm gonna make it a nice one.
I'd much prefer to spend a bit more and ensure she really loves it, than skimp and regret it later.

[Deva Link]

keith333 said:

Spend as much as you can! If she's the right one and you're going to spend 30-40 years together, then investing in a beautiful engagement ring is a great thing to do. My wife gets comments all the time about her ring (single diamond solitaire) and she loves it.

One of my daughters was bought a kick-ass ring by her husband-to-be and she went bonkers, feeling it was totally OTT. She was still living at home and it doubled the cost of our house insurance - he'd bought it through a friend who works in the trade so valuation certificate value was way higher than he'd paid. It nearly killed their relationship and they ended up getting something much cheaper that she felt comfortable wearing every day.

For the OP, spending his entire personal savings on a ring seems ridiculous.

[Lotusevoraboy]

Take it out of the joint savings...or...if you drop £3000 on a ring insist she buys you a token of her love, like a Rolex costing £3000. Something tells me she might lower her expectations.

I assume you already own a house? £3000 would be far better put towards a deposit if not.

If you insist I'd finance it, ESP at zero %... I'd miss £3000 a lot less than £100 a month.

[paps]

We don't own a house. We are saving, but the prospect of raising some £80k for deposit seems insurmountable, and £3k seems like a drop in the ocean. I can only see us buying something if we get a windfall of some kind. The £3k is mine and I've had it in mind for this purpose for quite some time. My ot isn't expecting or demanding an expensive ring. She'd be happy with something half the price. I guess I just want to do it.

[smckeown]

There is no way I would spend £3k on a ring whilst I didn't own my own home. That is 6% of a 20% deposit on a £250k house.
Sean

[carreauchompeur]

Way too much.

IMHO the focus should be on getting a place to call your own rather than a shiny bauble.

[otolith]

paps said:

I kind of figured I should spend 2 months wages. I'm sure thats the general rule on how much to spend?

It's a "tradition" entirely fabricated in the late 1930's by the marketing men of the De Beers diamond company.

[zcacogp]

carreauchompeur said:

Way too much.

IMHO the focus should be on getting a place to call your own rather than a shiny bauble.

Absolutely. Cash should be spent on the house (and hence the future) rather than a shiny piece of jewellery.


Oli.

[cuprabob]

i was always under the impression it was one month's wages but we're a bit tighter up here :-)

Just do what you're comfortable with.

Not a dig at the OP, but really don't understand this modern trait of posting every decision in your life on a public forum. just man up and make your own decisions.

[paps]

cuprabob said:

i was always under the impression it was one month's wages but we're a bit tighter up here :-)

Just do what you're comfortable with.

Not a dig at the OP, but really don't understand this modern trait of posting every decision in your life on a public forum. just man up and make your own decisions.

Point taken, but the question was about whether to take finance rather than the rights of and wrongs of spending £3k on a ring. I figure if I'm happy spending that sort of money then thats all thats important.