When asked the question how much should someone spend on an engagement ring, many people might already have a preconceived price tag. Some believe the special number is somewhere around $5,000. Others might be bargain shoppers and find a ring for a few hundred dollars without breaking the bank.

Meanwhile, there are some who have a standard in mind when it comes to the amount someone should spend on an engagement ring. Maybe parents or older generations have influenced this decision.

According to the most recent data from a 2013 report by Jewelers of America, couples spent an average of $4,000 on an engagement ring in 2012.

For a Baylor student, this may seem like quite a bit of cash when thinking about groceries, rent, Greek life events and the numerous other things that cost money to do these days.

Approximately 90 percent of Baylor undergraduate students receive student financial assistance, according to Baylor’s Institutional Research and Testing Therefore, many Baylor students are obviously in need of money to even finish school, let alone, go out and search for a ring that is worth several grand.

Nearly four out of five students across the United States — including those in high school, community college, online college or traditional university — work while in school, a survey by Citigroup and Seventeen magazine found. The average working student put in 19 hours a week during the school year. While some of this money may have gone into savings, but it is likely that the average working student is expending effort to pay for rent and necessities.

For many Baylor students, Ring By Spring is an obvious time of the year to propose. The problem is many might be trapped between time and cost. For students that try to plan ahead and pay off future student debt, some have to take out loans from their parents in order to pay for the “standard cost” of an engagement ring.

So, here is a solution.

Anyone who is looking to get engaged should do what they are capable of doing. There is no right or wrong answer here, there is only what is affordable, what is liked and what works for both purchaser and partner.

Time and time again couples seem to be under the stress of a ring and forget the whole beauty of the engagement altogether. A proposal should be exciting from the aspect of looking forward to spending life together, not from the amount of bling.

There should not be a stigma that if your partner loves you enough he or she will spend more on you. Some people are just not financially stable enough to make that happen.

Many individuals, if capable, would spend everything they had on the person they love, even if it was just to make them smile.

When it comes to the ring, ultimately, there should not be a question of how much someone loves you. Someone wouldn’t waste the time, money or effort to go through an engagement if they didn’t care about you.