Man Proposes With $80 Ring, Fiancée Hurt That 'She Wasn't Worth Spending a Full Paycheck'

Mar. 15, 2025

Man looks at engagement rings (stock image).Photo:Andresr/Getty

Andresr/Getty

A man is questioning everything about his engagement after his fiancée confronted him about spending less than $100 on her ring.

In aposton Reddit’s “Am I the A——?” forum, the “confused” man opened up about his girlfriend’s reaction to him proposing with an engagement ring worth only $80. At the time, she was “surprised but not in an excited way,” and later admitted how it hurt that “she wasn’t worth spending a full paycheck ($700) on.”

According to the Redditor, money has been tight for him and his now-fiancée.

“For context, we are not a wealthy family, we live with a roommate and have two children to provide for, my income covers us and we fit into the tax bracket for food stamps and Medicaid,” the user wrote.

He thought he and his girlfriend were on the same page on the expectation that he wouldn’t break the bank for a costly diamond ring because they had explored cheaper options together before — but he was wrong.

“Over the past three years we’d talked about if we were to ever get married, the price of the ring doesn’t matter, it’s the thought and meaningfulness that counts,” he continued. “She had directly pointed out a couple ‘On Sale’ rings from some websites and they were all really pretty and in the under $100 range.”

Man and woman argue (stock image).Stefa Nikolic/Getty

Stefa Nikolic/Getty

“Not gonna turn fingers green, but also no flashy diamond,” he said.

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“I got into a car accident and am basically immobile,” the man explained.

Because his girlfriend “seemed very [ready] for a ring,” he popped the question on New Year’s Eve. His fiancée was surprised — “but not in an excited way.”

“Yesterday, she confronted me about how the ring was only $80 not even $100 and how it made her feel that she wasn’t worth spending a full paycheck ($700) on,” he said.

He then asked Redditors to help him determine whether or not he was in the wrong. “I’m very confused if I’m in the wrong here or what exactly happened,” he concluded.

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“She can’t agree and pretend to be excited over rings on the internet that were similar in price to the one you got her and then get upset about it,” one person commented. “She’s the one who sent you the links to the cheap rings. I would 100% call her out on that. If she wanted a pricier ring she should have brought that up instead of telling you the exact opposite.”

A few dissenters shared that they felt bad for the poster’s fiancée, as she clearly was hoping for a bigger and better proposal experience. Others argued that it’s “the thought that counts” rather than how much money a couple spends on a ring.

“Tell her it’s merely a placeholder and that when y’all are better off financially you’ll replace it with something more fitting. And stick to that,” another Redditor recommended.

source: people.com