Something that can make a big difference is when you get engaged. I was engaged a few months out of university and had very little money so in those circumstances 10K would have been crippling. The down payment on our first home was only slightly more than 10K. If you get engaged in your thirties when you are well established in your career then 10K doesn't seem like all that much money.
For those that think it is stupid I wonder how many have granite counter tops in their kitchen? Can you really argue that granite counter tops provide more benefit than Corian tops? Sure, frozen foods thaw quicker on granite and you will likely recover some of the money when you sell but I don't think adding granite increases the resale of the house by the same amount. The same goes for picking hardwood over engineered hardwood, or choosing a stamped driveway.
In the end, everyone spends a different amount on just about everything based on the means and wants. We can't agree that there is a normal price that one should pay for a house above which the purchaser is wasting his money and we can't agree on a standard price for rings. Who would want to anyway?
I am sure we can put together a group of people who think that $500 is the tops that someone should spend on a ring above which you are really just getting the same thing (a wife) but paying more for it.
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