Nobody broke my heart. I just really hate women that think a relationship/marriage is about rings and proposing and blah blah blah.

Couldn't agree with you more. It seems that most american couples forget that about marriage.

i agree with you as well. and she could also see this as a blessing. her and her future-husband can go pick out a ring that she likes, and that is within their budget to get. nothing at all wrong with that. and @112, i have to say, i get really sick of everyone immediately making jabs at posters being American, like what you just said. not every person in America is a complete and total moron. And quite honestly, there are a large number of countries in the world where you don't marry for love or you don't get to choose who you marry, depending on the culture. yes, people can be stupid about marriage, but at least we have a choice in the matter.

I'm actually from the US, so I SEE how marriages are here. and I'm also sick of everyone assuming that the US is ONLY country that advertises personal liberties. Have you heard of this fantastic continent called Europe? You're free to do pretty much anything you want there. and crazy enough, there are some countries in South America, Africa, Asia, that emphasize on the freedom to do things. and of course, let's not forget about Australia! Sorry, you didn't develop the concept of of freedom, so stop taking credit for it.

^ She never said there weren't any other countries that didn't emphasize personal freedom. She simply claimed there are a lot of countries that don't.

I agree with most of what you said, 111, but on the other hand, it depends on how long they are engaged for. I was engaged for over a year, and because my ring was not that expensive, my husband had it paid off months before we were married. Of course, once we got married, his money became my money (and vice versa), but if they do keep separate accounts (like many married couples do), she could view it as coming out of his separate account instead of coming out of their joint account. I paid for both my wedding band and my husband's, as well as much of our wedding (with help from my parents), because I had more money than he did. But it was nice that he made the effort to save enough of his money to buy my engagement ring himself, by sacrificing some of his own "spending money".

@119 I half agree with what you're trying to say however just because you live in the U.S doesn't mean that you are going to be less bias about how things are, maybe you are only seeing things from a certain perspective. I have noticed that in a few other comments you've made, you have judged what another person is saying without trying to see things from their perspective. Also, there are different types of marriages in every country in the world, it would be impossible to categorise marriages by countries. (or vice versa)

Not all married couples pool their money. I mean, yeah, you sort of automatically have to share in paying for the house and the utilities and such, but that doesn't mean you have to have a "what's yours is mine" policy.

Many people have separate bank accounts. There aren't many, I don't think, who have joint accounts.

"Many" .....as in contributing to the over 50%? What's wrong with our world?

148 - No. I didn't mention anything about the divorce rate, and, in fact, the divorce rate isn't even close to 1 in 2 (I'm assuming you're in either Canada or USA, because I haven't looked up anything for anywhere else). Get your facts straight before you say anything. What I meant was, even married couples... MOST married couples... have separate bank accounts. This does not predict the end of their relationship nor does it signify any problems.

@121, Actually, the main reason for divorce is marriage.:)