He doesn't get it..

My boyfriend has made a point that he wants to propose sometime in the near future which would be awesome but he doesn't get that a ring would be nice. It doesn't have to. Be big or expensive but I'm not the only girl who has thought of when the time came they were proposed to there would be a ring as a gesture. Please no negative comments about wanting a ring with a proposal. He doesn't work at the moment and I get he can't afford one now but I'm in no rush we live together and his grandmother offered him a ring in exchange for some house hold work (she use to own a jewellery store) I just think that I've never gotten a gift from him and when I get proposed to I want to have something to show to everyone that he took the time to think of me, work hard for me and have me wear something that is a symbol of us together. I've tried explaining it to him but to him 'it's just a ring'