I want a cheap wedding ring... am I insane?!

I had a cz set in sterling silver "place holder" ering. With my job I wash my hands a lot and come in to contact with a lot of cleaning chemicals. The silver did not do so well, it ended up always looking dull. Since we got the gold, I've had no problems with keeping the shiny. Go with what makes you happy, but keep longevity and daily life in mind.

My ring cost $400 from Jared. It is gorgeous, sapphire. And it comes with an amazing protection plan.

You can get a nice tungsten ring on Amazon for $12-$25. That's what my FH is probably getting. Unless you want jewels which it sounds like you don't, tungsten is an excellent, durable and inexpensive alternative to gold

Amazon also has fairly inexpensive diamond bands in 10k-14k gold for under $200 too.

There is NOTHING wrong with a cheap ring. They have BEAUTIFUL cheap rings at walmart for less than $100. A ring that looks just like mine is selling for $58, we paid $1200 and nobody can tell the difference.

Get something beautiful that makes you happy. You don't need to pay a fortune for beautiful jewelry. I would focus on something simple and elegant that's long lasting and durable. It doesn't need to cost a lot to check those boxes.

Nothing to add but - change your avatar to something other than the rings! They are associated with spam/trolls.

I think there is a difference between cheap and inexpensive. Cheap can describe the price and quality. To me, a cheap ring would be something that would break or turn your finger green, but an inexpensive ring that still has a nice quality is something worth thinking about.

We bought 2 wedding bands from Robbins Brothers. One with diamonds that I'll typically wear and one plain sterling silver for traveling or more physical activities. The sterling silver was 95.

I'm not a fan of sterling silver rings because they tarnish. Gold if you're traditional, or titanium if you're not, might be better choices. However, I do think that a plain band is all you need. (And JVL is constantly having coupon codes that will bring its titanium rings down to about $25.)

A generation ago, almost no one had a wedding band with stones of any kind on it. The idea was that the ring was symbolic, not decorative. Thus, you wanted everyone to recognize exactly what it was--which was easiest to do if they all looked alike rather than each one being unique. If you look at the default avatars for this site, they are still plain bands--those are much more recognizable as wedding rings than ones that have a lot of jewels on them.

Pawn shops are another option. You can find quality jewelry without spending an arm and a leg.