Engagement Ring Tips & Advice

Ways to get her ring size without arousing suspicion from her, her friends, and family.
Take one of her rings, and press it between 2 bars of soap. This allows for an impression to be brought to the jeweler. Another way is to outline the ring on a sheet of paper with a pencil/pen. Or you can take her ring and mark where it stops on your finger.

Hint: Budget savers, it is better to spend more money on the stone than it is on the band because when your fiancé flashes her rock around, she's flashing the rock, not the band. Plus, you can always upgrade the band, but never the rock.

Be cautious when you buy the ring as a whole, because the whole ring can't be examined out of its setting. If you were the jeweler, wouldn't you conceal the defects/inclusions under the ring prong? Typically, a setting fee won't be charged if you purchase the stone and the band there.

Negotiating Hint: If you are still unsatisfied after the jeweler has made it obvious that they are not willing to lower the price any further; you can offer to pay by cash over credit. Credit card companies typically charge a 2.5% service fee which you can use to persuade a 1%-2% price reduction. Be careful, should you stumble across any problems; it is usually futile settling disputes where cash was the only source of an unmarked transaction.

If you use a credit card like discover, or dividends, you can earn 1% back, savings $10 per every $1000. And, paying by credit gives you an extra month to cough up the extra money.

When buying a diamond, a trick is if you plan to get a 2 carat diamond, go for 1.9. Why? Because as the diamond goes up by one carat, the price rises tremendously as well, so if you go for 1.9 carats, instead of 2, the diamond will only be slightly smaller, but you'll be saving a lot.