<prompt> Human: I am a full-time student majoring in engineering, made around 22k last year, and I plan on making close to that this year as well. I am expecting to graduate May of next year. I was blessed to find the woman of my dreams and plan on proposing at some point this summer. I was fortunate enough to work for a company with a small 401k matching program to have approximately 3k fully vested into that account. I also have an account specifically set aside for the ring and to cover the cost difference of school and my federally student loans, about 1500semester. As a student a majority of my income comes during the summer months and I anticipate this savings set aside to be around 5k by the end of summer but 3k to be spent on last two semesters of school. These loans will total around 25k upon graduation. The rings we are looking at are around 5k, and to the best of my knowledge she is going to say yes. My question here is this, do I finance the ring, with a hefty down payment, and pay the monthly payments until I graduate then immediately pay off the remaining balance once I am working full-time?Or, do I sacrifice my 1 years worth of contributions to the 401k 3k along with extra 2k in my savings and pay cash for it?I never thought financing something would appear to be the better option, but I believe, and please correct me if Im wrong, that the interest I would pay by financing would not be greater than the financial benefits I gain by keeping my balance in my 401k while continuing to contribute to it. Im young and fairly new to personal finance but attempt to do my homework when it comes financial decisions. Any tipsideassuggestions will be greatly appreciated.  <response>: Do not buy a fucking 5k ring when you are still a student. That is insane. 