sometimes you just have to spend money

Ah, as much as I'd like to live off water and Ramen noodles and never spend money on anything...sometimes you just have to spend money.

I recently moved and needed to get either a mattress to sleep on or a futon/sofa sleeper. I did some research online which told me that the sofa sleeper was pretty much outta the picture as it would be too costly. After a lot of looking around the cheapest COMFORTABLE futon I found was $199 for the mattress and $99 for the cheapest frame. Then I began the hunt for a full-size mattress. I started at Sam's where it was around $180. Furniture stores averaged about $225 for the cheapest and Sears/JCPenney were around $169. I don't have a vehicle that could transport a mattress which means paying for delivery or paying to rent a truck. Cost of delivery from retail stores = $60. Cost of renting truck = $19.99 + mileage.

So, I resigned myself to the sad fact that I would get a mattress instead of a couch-like item, but it was going to save me $$ so it was cool. Before placing the order at Sears I decided to pop in a Big Lots and see if they carried mattresses, as I knew they carried furniture. Voila, a mattress for $159. Cost of shipping = $60. Argh. A quick check online and I was off to buy the mattress at Big Lots for a 20% discount. Thank you SlickDeals.

Cost of mattress after tax = $136.63
Cost of rental truck after mileage/tax = $29.64
Total cost of mattress = $166.27
Booyah.