If you're like me, there is a sense of dread that comes over you when you have to make big ticket purchases. Two things come to my mind when this happens! First, my poor home maintenance fund is going to take another major hit! Secondly, the research! Oh my, the hours and hours spent online searching for any info on how to make a decision. What kind I'm looking for, is there a deal on this item etc. etc.
One advantage is that I had some time before I made a decision and bite the bullet on what mattress I wanted to buy. The thing is.... no one has asked me what I wanted before and I have no frigging idea where to start! What kind of mattress do I want? Eurotop? What's that? Where do you buy one? How can you tell if it's a good quality mattress? What happens if I buy the wrong one? What's the delivery cost? What happens to the old one? All these crazy questions come to my mind and I feel pretty much like a doe blanking out in front of oncoming headlights.
One of the hardest parts of growing up is just figuring crap out for yourself. My mother never taught me how to buy a mattress! She would just ask a friend who's husband made mattresses, get one she liked for a deal and that's what I would sleep on at home. The thing is I could ask my mom if she's still friends with that person and any advice she'd have for me on buying a mattress. But, knowing my mom she'd tell me to go cheap and save the money! She doesn't see that quality of sleep and paying more for a mattress is an investment in yourself. Yes, she does believe in quality sometimes but what works for her might not work for me.
First off, I can't stress how important and freeing it feels to have a home maintenance fund. It's one of the best idea's I've had! Because of it, I'm not stressing about the idea of how I will pay for this or any other home item thing I need. So far, in it's short few years of funding it has bought me a brand new washer, dryer, Dyson vacuum, as well as some small purchases like a new home phone and stuff. So, if you don't have one... NOW is the time to start! Even if you start small at $5 a week, as long as you start and form that habit!
Some questions I asked friends and family before doing any research to narrow my search for the perfect for me mattress!
- What kind of mattress they have?
- How much did it cost?
- Where did they buy it from?
- What qualities do they like in a mattress?
- What brands are considered good quality?
- Do they know someone who works in that industry?
- What's this coil count I heard of?
I then found a very interesting site called Sleep Like The Dead. It had very informative reviews on all sort of brands and types of mattresses. It was much more detailed than even the corporate websites. If you ever look up a mattress from any brand, it just tells you bare minimum information. Nothing really important that I wanted to know like common problems, if you over heat from all the pillow top material etc. I need to read the reviews and comments on a bunch of mattresses. I read everything I could about innerspring, memory foam, latex etc. What brands had the best customer service, to reasons why they broke down, and issues like sagging in the pillow top.
Jump forward one month
After much research and many sleepless nights, I finally knew I had to make a decision about which mattress I was buying. I was hoping and thinking (more like wishing) if I could just hold out for a few more years until I bought my first home and I could get the whole new enchilada at once. But nope, I need really need one and stat!
I kept researching online and quickly realized how much more important your mattress is than I had thought. I knew it could affect your quality of sleep but didn't realize how much of an affect it really had. I didn't know how important it is if your asthmatic or prone to allergies etc. I didn't know that side sleepers need this and back sleepers needed that. I knew how much money I had in my home maintenance fund and roughly an idea of how much I really wanted to spend. So, I decided to ask!
Ask anyone... Friends, family, acquaintances if they had an hook ups on deals with mattresses and eventually someone replied! With luck a girlfriend of mine hooked me up with her work discount on getting new hotel quality mattress! I was pretty much sold after I heard the brand and the price! I went to a Leon's to check out this particular brand and figure out if it would be a good fit. I sort of feel like it's equivalent to buying a car or tv. Anything I buy now would be ten million times better than the technology they had back in the day. So, I put in my order for the Beautyrest Black and now we play the waiting game until delivery day. I'm so excited about getting my new mattress as if I just bought two plane tickets back to Paris! My bed is my sanctuary! I spend a lot of time in there sleeping and reading and watching some tv, why not shell out the extra dough and the time to get the one you think is best. After all, how can I head off to work without a proper's night rest? How can anyone?
I had a realization when I was on my quest for this mattress is the power of asking! I really believe that if you put out word when you need something, people will want to help you out. I know of so many instances when I told my friends I wanted to get out of debt, started couponing and stuff that people were actually so supportive and kind. They would always have me in mind when they found a deal or picked up some coupons on my behalf. What I thought that some people would be looking down on me (I didn't care cause those aren't friends anyways), what I found was a lot of support and advice. Honestly, I couldn't have gotten out of debt all by myself and am so thankful for having such good friends! I love when people come up to me to tell me they read my blog, want to talk about deals, or advice on how to they can save money. It's us little consumers versus the big corporations anyways! We should stick together and help each other out if we can. We have nothing to lose and so much to gain!
Eros and Pookie
