A colleague of mine is finally ready to propose to his long time girl friend. But according to him, the delay to propose came down to really affording a good ring. Apparently there is a known rule to men that when you are finally ready to jump off the plank, you need to blow about two months worth of salary for an engagement ring. But is the rule of price based on the gross or net salary?

I began researching it and found a 2004 article from CNNMoney.com that describes the real rules. When a survey was done, most woman thought it was on gross, while men though it was on net. However, according to this article knot.com says that the general rule on price for an engagement ring is on net.

During my research I also found numerous message boards where users asked this question (gross or net). I found it interesting that the majority of the answers from people were ‘Buy what you can afford!’ The average blue collar men would probably take this route. But let’s be honest, most men have egos and egos equal expensive rings and in some self-absorb way, men don’t want to come across as CHEAP!

So, my colleague avoided the question about the rule. I know how much he makes, so I have an idea of what a two month salary type of ring would look like.

Whether gross or on net, the ring would be pretty decent.

He finally told us that he bought a 1 carat diamond ring on a white gold band. Wow, 1 carat! Apparently only 1% of the population will ever own a 1 carat diamond ring. The average engagement ring is about .25 - .50 carats. So with a 1 carat diamond ring, I knew he followed the rule on price if not went above it,And they say Love Don’t Cost A Thing… Pffff…