[jimhefferon]

> 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.