Man Proposes With $80 Ring, Fiancée Hurt That 'She Wasn't Worth Spending a Full Paycheck'

A man is questioning everything about his engagement after his fiancée confronted him about spending less than $100 on her ring.

In a post on Reddit's "Am I the A------?" forum, the "confused" man opened up about his girlfriend's reaction to him proposing with an engagement ring worth only $80. At the time, she was "surprised but not in an excited way," and later admitted how it hurt that "she wasn't worth spending a full paycheck ($700) on."

According to the Redditor, money has been tight for him and his now-fiancée.

"For context, we are not a wealthy family, we live with a roommate and have two children to provide for, my income covers us and we fit into the tax bracket for food stamps and Medicaid," the user wrote.

He thought he and his girlfriend were on the same page on the expectation that he wouldn't break the bank for a costly diamond ring because they had explored cheaper options together before — but he was wrong.

"Over the past three years we'd talked about if we were to ever get married, the price of the ring doesn't matter, it's the thought and meaningfulness that counts," he continued. "She had directly pointed out a couple 'On Sale' rings from some websites and they were all really pretty and in the under $100 range."

The poster didn't think there'd be any issue with him buying a ring from the options his fiancée explored — so he went for it, spending just $80 on her ring. In the comments section, he clarified that it was a ring from Kay Jewelers, calling it "a legit ring that I would be happy to wear myself."

"Not gonna turn fingers green, but also no flashy diamond," he said.

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

Another reason why the Redditor's girlfriend might have been disappointed by the engagement is because he "couldn't do the whole elaborate proposal" he wanted to.

"I got into a car accident and am basically immobile," the man explained.

Because his girlfriend "seemed very [ready] for a ring," he popped the question on New Year's Eve. His fiancée was surprised — "but not in an excited way."

"Yesterday, she confronted me about how the ring was only $80 not even $100 and how it made her feel that she wasn't worth spending a full paycheck ($700) on," he said.

He then asked Redditors to help him determine whether or not he was in the wrong. "I'm very confused if I'm in the wrong here or what exactly happened," he concluded.

Related: Man Says His Girlfriend Is 'Upset' That He's Comfortable Talking About 'Women Things'

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

In the comments section, many Redditors wrote that the man's fiancée was in the wrong, and that she had sent completely mixed signals by sending him links to rings under $100.

"She can’t agree and pretend to be excited over rings on the internet that were similar in price to the one you got her and then get upset about it," one person commented. "She's the one who sent you the links to the cheap rings. I would 100% call her out on that. If she wanted a pricier ring she should have brought that up instead of telling you the exact opposite."

A few dissenters shared that they felt bad for the poster's fiancée, as she clearly was hoping for a bigger and better proposal experience. Others argued that it's "the thought that counts" rather than how much money a couple spends on a ring.

"Tell her it's merely a placeholder and that when y'all are better off financially you'll replace it with something more fitting. And stick to that," another Redditor recommended.

Read the original article on People