Buying a New Mattress and Solving a Problem
Posted: Monday, July 12, 2010
by Dianne Lehmann
Artisan Jewelry from SyZyGy
We've needed a new mattress for longer than it was sane to keep using the old one. We had needed it long before my husband, Bernd, lost his job. But after he did, we put a moratorium on buying anything that wasn't necessary for our immediate survival. I'm sure quite a few of you know the feeling of hunkering down and going into lockdown-the-pocketbook-freeze-the-charge-cards-in-a-block-of-ice mode.
He loves this job even though he is working ten and eleven hours a day five days a week. He is appreciated and liked by all of his co-workers and he gets rave reviews from the patients. I just had to toot his horn a bit. Also, there is no corporate pressure to perform from people isolated from the sales end of it who don't have a clue what happens on a real sales floor. There are no quotas or dire threats if certain percentages are not met. I'm so happy that he has a job that he likes so much. I miss him, but I am happy for him and for our financial situation.
So, back to that darn mattress well maybe not quite yet. The only draw back to his job is that the chairs provided for his use were giving him back trouble. It doesn't help that he never sits in a chair properly. He's a sloucher. I've coached him on how to sit properly: rear end all the way back in the chair, feet flat on the floor, thighs parallel to the floor, and don't lean forward too much. Still, his back was on the verge of completely seizing up. He was reduced to wearing a back brace just to get by. So I suggested we go out and find him a chair that fits him and supports his back and that when we find it, we buy two of them. One for each location of the practice.
I was so surprised to find just the right thing at the first place we stopped that I asked if there was anything else he might like to do while we were out. I was totally surprised when he said we should go look at mattresses. One, because he just absolutely hates to shop, and two, because he just absolutely hates to spend money; even when we have it. But I think the muscle relaxant the nurse practioner prescribed for him was making him a bit more mellow than usual; it was certainly making him more patient. Or maybe he was thinking that our old mattress was part of his problem. He didn't say. So I loaded him along with the two new chairs (no, I didn't make him sit in the cargo space) into my Jeep and we made the short drive to the local mall.
Fortuitously, for several days prior, I had been researching mattresses online. I had a small inkling of what they might cost and had found out some interesting facts about mattresses. Most manufacturers of innerspring mattresses get all their springs from the same source. There are only a couple of exceptions. The only differences are in number of springs used and the gauges of the wire used to make the springs. Some manufacturers cover the springs with fancy sounding fabrics to raise the "perceived" value and thus justify charging more for them. Most manufacturers change the name of each model for the different vendors so that the consumer can not easily compare prices between one retailer and the next. All non-innerspring (and some innerspring) mattresses are insanely expensive. None of this gave me much confidence of finding a mattress, but since Bernd was willing and this might be my only chance to do it, we did it.
In some ways, buying a new mattress is like buying a new car. You find one you think you might like, you are given the price, you ask about sales and discounts or whatever and the salesperson has to go and talk to her manager. She comes back and tells you what she can and can't do for you and you start the process all over again. It was way more money than we were prepared to spend.
After sleeping on a sort of waterbed for something like 24 years, it only took us a couple of minutes of lying on an innerspring mattress to nix that whole idea. That ramped up the probable expenditure by several multiples. We tried the Tempurpedic that everyone raves about, but I tend to sleep right on the edge of the bed and slowly but surely as I laid on the edge, it started to collapse and threatened to dump me on the floor. Then we looked at a synthetic latex foam mattress by Sealy. Bernd fell in love with it and this is the one we started seriously haggling over. We got a final price that made us gulp even though there was a manufacturer's rebate and, for the July 4 th weekend, the retailer was paying the sales tax. We decided to walk through the mall and think about it. In the mall, we realized there were two other places we could check. Another amazing surprise, Bernd was willing to continue shopping for a mattress. I can't tell you how odd that is. So I was trying to remember if I had sneezed once recently. Bernd and I have a standing joke that when you sneeze, you unknowingly slip into an alternate reality and only return to your own when you sneeze again. Luckily, I usually sneeze twice in a row.
It turned out that the first place was able to give us the best deal on a mattress that we liked. When we returned we asked if we had to buy the box springs with the mattress. The "waterbed" we had consisted of a foam cradle that held seven cylinders of water with a foam top over that. From the outside, it looked just like a regular mattress. This whole mess sat on top of a platform tricked out to look like a box spring mattress. I had read online that it is best to set a foam mattress on a platform and not on box springs and well, we had a platform. We were told that we could not get the rebate unless we bought the set, but that she would find out what our price would be without the box springs. It turned out to be a better deal than with the rebate, but still was about four times what we wanted to spend. We bought it anyway. Sleeping well is important. Best part was that it could be delivered the very next day. So on July 4 th at 9:30 in the morning, we got our new mattress.
It's about 13 inches tall and I feel like I've got a "Princess and the Pea" thing going on. I have to be careful getting off of it because when I sit on the edge, my feet do not touch the floor by a lot. But we love it. It's soft and supportive and I haven't slept this well in I don't know how long. It terrified our cat, Winnie, the first time she saw it. But she has since gotten over it. The best part is that with the new task chairs, new mattress and a lot of massages from me, Bernd's back is finally getting better. We can take walks again without his back cramping. It takes all the fun out of the walk when your poor hubby stops and winces and utters painful noises every few steps. We still can't play ping pong, but life is good and looks like it will just keep getting better. I have a friend who once told me that the best way to solve a problem was to throw money at it. I thought she was nuts, but she just may have been on to something.
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Top-level comments on this article: (8 total)Maybe you should keep those muscle relaxers handy in case you want to go shopping for something again. :) Another good article, Dianne.Hi Joyce.That's an excellent suggestion!Thanks for reading and commenting. I always appreciate it.Dianne
It's fantastic that Bernd has a job he loves and where he's appreciated, Dianne. As for your mattress, what an auspicious 4th of July happy ending / beginning!Hi Jennifer.It's not often you get to work at something that pleases you. He's taken such an interest in this job that he even brings work home with him and doesn't consider it an imposition. It amazes me ... and thrills me.We love our new mattress. I can highly recommend these new-fangled foam mattresses. Just be sure to get contour sheets with really deep pockets. I had to buy a new set that said it would fit 18" deep mattresses. They just barely fit ours!Hope all is well,Hugs,Dianne
I am glad Bernd's back is getting better. I was in a car accident several years ago, say 2006, and I was struck in the rear passenger side by a drunk driver. It put a toll on the lower right side of my back, which is now better, and I had to have therapy for several months to heal. I have a special chair of my own at home.Hi James.Back troubles are serious business as you know. I'm glad his back is doing better too. We actually played a little ping pong the other night. I'm glad that your accident wasn't any worse. Those things can get really bad so easily. It's amazing the difference a chair or a mattress can make, isn't it. Of course you still have to sit in that chair properly. :)Thank you, James, for reading and taking the time to comment.My best to you,Dianne
Well I am not poor but I hate wasting money also. I also have a bad back. The last two king size mattresses I bought were very comfortable and lasted 5 years and I got all THREE of them both times for under 75 bucks. Buy them second hand at a thrift store. You can get them nearly new if you shop. I stack them up three on top of each other from the floor, no bed frame and I sleep like a baby.Hi Robert.Excellent suggestions. I just don't think I'd ever get Bernd on a second hand mattress. He hates traveling because he has to sleep on a mattress that someone else has slept on. We have, however, thought about putting it on the floor because it is so tall. But then our cat, Winnie, wouldn't have anywhere to hide when we have company.Thanks for reading and commenting,Dianne
I remember buying a bed a couple of years ago and the salesperson was like a car salesman. 'What do I have to do to get you on this mattress?' I ended up buying an inexpensive mattress and slept well. Yet, I know some who will pay exhorbitant amounts for that perfect night's sleep. And I wonder . . . is it truly the mattress? Well, about a year ago I got a brand new bed and the answer is a resounding YES. Nicely done.Hi Michael.I never thought it mattered much, but as I've gotten older ... well, my body just isn't so forgiving anymore. We really like our new and I haven't slept this well in years. So it was worth the money. Bernd is sleeping much better too and his back is healing nicely.Take care and sleep well,Dianne
Sleep well!Hi e.We plan on it!Thanks for reading and commenting!Hugs,Dianne
CONGRATULATIONS to Bernd! It's wonderful he's at a job he loves. We purchased a new mattress a couple of years back and paid way too much, and bought one much too firm, which may be part of the reason I tend to be awake much of the night. I'm glad you got the one right for you though and I had to smile when you described the Princess and the Pea scenario, I could picture it.Hi Brianna.You'd think buying a mattress would be easy. You lie on a bunch of them and pick the one that feels right. But it's probably like buying shoes. You should buy shoes at the end of the day when your feet are tired and swollen. So maybe Bernd's "busted" back helped us to buy the right mattress. :) Who knows?I still feel like I'm sleeping way up in the air and the mattress looks really odd to me. I'm in the process of making some comforter extenders from the valances that I took down a couple of years ago because I got tired of all the dark colors above the slider. Slow going without a sewing machine.I wish you had a mattress that you loved. It makes such a difference. I will send some good sleeping wishes your way.Hugs,Dianne
Thank you for sharing your thoughts.Hi Mike.Thank you for reading them!Dianne
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