We’ve been overdue for a new bed for a long, long, long time.
Truly, in hindsight, buying a new mattress five years ago would not have been too soon. Indeed, I’ve had back problems for at least that long, which I attributed to issues that came up following the birth of my daughter (who’s now seven) (but that’s a whole different story). I’ve gone to chiropractors, an acupuncturist, I’ve taken lots of ibuprofin — last year I even went to a physical therapist for regular appointments over a six-month period. That actually helped me more than anything: hats off to physical therapists everywhere. I gained a whole new respect for you.
But I still have back pain, particularly when I get a really good night’s sleep –say, more than six hours. Sometimes I wake up feeling like someone punched me in the spine.
John* comes home from his deployment, and after one night he says,
“I spent four months just sleeping on some random mattress in Kyrgyzstan that was probably nine years old to begin with — so old that, on the day I was leaving they wanted us to switch them out — and I slept fine. But one night on our old bed, and I felt like I’d been hit in the back with a baseball bat.”
His very words. Seriously. I just typed them out verbatim.
So he declared that we were going to buy ourselves a new mattress. Now.
We spent the morning at a local mattress store.
After a few naps a couple hours of lying around we both were settled (quite literally) on a Stearns and Foster Chestnut Street queen-size innerspring luxury mattress with firm support.
I went in thinking I was going to fall in love with a Tempur-pedic. We did take a nap on try out one of those as well, but did not notice a discernible difference that justified more than double the price tag. We actually spent most of our time deciding between two different Stearns and Foster mattresses — the other being a pillow top, similar to (but better than) ones my husband fell in love with during recent hotel stays.
Indeed, the second your body hit the pillow-top, your whole being just sighed, “Ah…” But after taking a little nap lying there a few minutes, again, the experience was actually the same (to us) as the mattress we ultimately chose — for $500 less.
The final price tag? (with tax): $1218.73
That also includes a mattress pad protector. And the salesman threw in a Memory Foam Contour “I Love My Pillow” Pillow for free (which normally retailed for $99 but discounted to $69 with a mattress purchase) (except for us because, as the salesman said, “If I can’t give away a pillow to a guy who just came back from Kyrgyzstan, well, I just don’t know what kind of person I would be”.)
(Okay, I’m paraphrasing, because I was taking a nap didn’t have a pad and pen handy to write down his words directly, but that was the gist.)
It was a good thing, too, because John fell in love with that pillow while we were testing out mattresses, so we were going home with one regardless. Also, Dr. Destructo our precious little Peter already tore a quarter-sized hole out of it, so it’s nice to think we didn’t actually pay for it. At least not directly.
John then went straight from the mattress store and bought some much-needed tires for his car: $609.62. Ooch.
Needless to say, May has been an expensive month. Yes, we paid cash, for the mattress and tires – and we were still able to put a little over $1000 into savings… But only because John’s June paycheck already hit, so I’m taking the tires out of June’s budget. I’ll post more about the final tally for May’s budget next week. For now, let’s just say, we “ate” a lot of it.
*I’m tired of calling John “The Hubs”. His name is John. Sometimes you just need to call a spade a spade.
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I’m so glad you got a new bed. It’s amazing how little attention we give to a piece of furniture that we spend 1/3 (more-or-less) of our 24 hours on. Hope you really like it.
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It’s funny, my wife came to me and said “we have to get a new mattress”! We are still in debt, so I just gave her “the look”…it didn’t work! We both deal with various pains, and she suffers from terrible migraines. I guess we’re going mattress shopping.
I’m glad to hear that you fell in love with the cheaper mattress – especially with the cost of those tires (ouch!).
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jolyn Reply:
May 31st, 2010 at 10:29 pm
It’s definitely not all about the price. My mom recently also purchased herself a new mattress, and she ended up deciding on the lesser expensive between her two final favorites. And it wasn’t about the price — it was the comfort for her body.
Also- definitely haggle the price. The salesman definitely has some give from the retail price that’s listed.
Yes, May was quite an expensive month!
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We bought as Chatham and Wells a few years ago. I thought of the temperpedic too since I have had back problems,(why did I just say had? I have a back brace 1 of those wrap around on right now). Anyway the main reason I did not buy the temperpedic is the head (I new menopause was eminent). However, DH and I compromised. I wanted firmer and he wanted softer. So neither of us are totally happy. I slept on a sleep number bed a few weeks ago when I had a sleep study (apnea) and I was not impressed at all. Interestingly enough my YD and SIL’s bed from Sam’s Club I love, it is a pilllow-top and I cannot think of the brand, but it was not expensive.
Ladies, buy new beds really! You will be kicking yourselves for waiting so long.
PS Give John an extra-big hug from me.
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I just have to laugh…Hubby blew a tire on the way home Thursday night and had to go yesterday and get one….tire day is right.
We just got our new mattress last year, and to date it’s probably the best purchase we’ve made together in 4 years. It helped our body aches and improved both our migraines that we had been having. Good luck with yours!
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jolyn Reply:
May 29th, 2010 at 5:10 pm
Jaime- what kind of mattress did you get??
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I had to get a mattress a few years ago, cheapest I could get was $200 (mattress only). A bed is a budget buster for sure.
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We need a new mattress too. I got mine when I graduated college in 1996, and it has seen better day. The main reason we haven’t is that we really would like a king size, and that just won’t fit in our house. We have been trying to move for 5 yrs, and we keep saying….we will get it when we move!
We have another mattress we can use, but G-man doesn’t like it. We tried for about 6 months and we hated it.
Oh well. Enjoy yours!
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Ooooh…we have a Tempur-pedic and I LOVE it. But man, was it pricey! When we went mattress shopping my criteria was, “do I want to sleep on this next time I’m 8 months pregnant?” That sets the bar pretty high! I have to say that the salesman told us that either you love or hate the Tempur-pedic, and he ended up choosing a Stearns and Foster for his own use. Sweet dreams!
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jolyn Reply:
May 29th, 2010 at 5:09 pm
Anne- You know, I was really surprised I did not fall in love with the Tempur-pedic. My sister Carmen got one a few years ago and said that’s when her back stopped hurting, so I really thought it’d be the way to go. But both of us just loved the Stearns and Foster we tried. John also tends to get hot at night — he’s forever tossing off his covers — and a memory foam is also more heat-inducing, so that was another consideration. I do know that everyone who’s gotten a tempur-pedic has loved it. (Either that, or the ones who don’t just don’t talk about it.) I hope we’re the same with the one we chose!
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We had to buy a new mattress when our queen bed wouldn’t fit up the stairs in this house while we were moving. We did need one anyway. I do believe we got one of the least expensive ones, and now we’re starting to pay for it in body pains, a little more than a year after we bought it. In some instances you really do get what you pay for. I’m glad you got a nice one, and wishing you sweet dreams.
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jolyn Reply:
May 29th, 2010 at 10:07 am
Thanks, Cathie. I do hope we are very pleased with our purchase for years to come. I was prepared to really break the budget to get the right mattress, because it really is such an important purchase that should be made a priority, and we have neglected that area of our lives for too long. However- I also know we are not the first to determine that pricier does not always mean better: Choosing a mattress is very personal and subjective. Just because it costs more doesn’t mean it’s the right one for you! Time will tell if we made the right choice…
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I am very jealous. Baseball to the back of the head sums up how my mattress makes me feel. We also had to buy tires yesterday. Ouch!
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jolyn Reply:
May 29th, 2010 at 9:29 am
Must have been tire day! How old is your bed? I have to add that, this new pillow my husband now has is amazing. The one night he just slept with it, he didn’t snore. That’s just about a miracle. Just getting yourself a new pillow could make a world of difference…
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You make me want to get a new bed. We are sleeping in the bed that my husband bought when he got out of college in 1989. It was already 10 years old when I married him in 1999. But, my daughter, who is 4, is going to get a new bed first as I believe her bed is even older!!!
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jolyn Reply:
May 29th, 2010 at 9:27 am
Carrie- Wow. I mean, wow. We’ve had our bed since 1996… but 1989? Do you have back problems? I mean, wow. Let me know when you finally cave and get a new one! Ours is going to be delivered next week and I can. hardly. wait.
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