I guess so, but your idea of a proposal is different than mine. If the partners have discussed and agreed to get married then I'd say the proposal has already passed. But whatever makes folks happy is OK with me.
The pre-proposal discussion is probably more of a "think we should get married someday?" kind of thing, the actual proposal (and consequent concrete plans to get married) might not be until months/years later.
> You should ask your married friends what a proposal is
If by "you" you mean me, I've been married since 86. (I understand that you may have meant a generic "you.")
FWIW, we didn't buy a ring. I can't say we took that money and put it to use X but in the first years of marriage we certainly had some months where we were only able to pay bills by looking under the couch cushions for quarters, so I think it was a sound direction, for us.