Frugality versus reality

I have a problem, it seems my bed is dying and what that means for me is every morning I wake up feeling like I went a few rounds with Mike Tyson back when he was in his prime. Seriously, my bed is so uncomfortable that I actually dread going to bed. I spend a fair amount of time each night tossing and turning, trying to find a position to sleep in that is comfortable where I don’t feel the springs prodding me into my side.

Now once upon a time when the Spousal Unit and I were flush with cash, I would have remedied this situation by going out and buying myself a new mattress and box spring. Problem is cash is not flowing and with many items on the agenda coming up, namely taxes to the federalises and the state as well as house insurance and house taxes, this is a pretty bad time to need a bed.

Now kids this is what I call a problem, my back is hurting so bad that I am inhaling Aleve and other pain killers like a child gobbling up candy the day after Halloween. I have been trying to pretend the pain is not that bad but really it is…so this morning I woke up with one thought. Rent-a center. You know the place where for a few dollars every week you pay on a item until one day you own it.

The problem is any rent to own item goes against all I believe in, for starters by the time you actually own the item you have paid 2-3 times what it would have cost, had you just saved up your shekels and bought it outright. I think places like Rent a Center and others of its ilk prey on poor folks, so its always been my policy that if I can’t buy it or at least charge it then I just don’t own it.

In theory this is a great idea, except that if I put away $15 a week, every week it will take about 30 weeks before I have enough cash available to buy a bed outright, that is a lot of nights and days to walk around with a hurting back and neck. Plus there is the cost for all the Aleve I have to buy to be functional during the day and that says nothing for my poor kidneys processing all that shit.

Nope, you can see where I have a problem. Now I don’t mind buying used except that with the resurgence of bedbugs, I am scared as hell to buy a mattress off say Craigslist. I have a buddy who used to get all her furniture and bedding used, well they got bedbugs and it was a mess. In the end they had to get rid of al their furniture and their place had to be fumigated by professionals. It doesn’t help that I was recently at a meeting where the local code enforcement officer spoke against getting used items like couches and beds because bed bugs have made such a resurgence in this area.

A table from Craiglist?Yes. A bed? No. So you can see where I have a dilemma, and no I can’t charge it because my neither of my two remaining credit cards have enough room, actually both cards have small limits. So while my frugal brain says no and to suck it up for 30 weeks, my back right now says get thee to Rent a Center and get a bed.

What say you? I could use some friendly frugal advice because my back is hurting.

Edited to add, I just called Rent a Center and it seems the cost to rent a bed is $22.95 a week, it takes a year to get the bed paid off and I can get a new one that has never been used. I don’t know but after doing the math, I feel less inclined to go this route, that’s a shitload of cash. Still how do I get by until I have enough cash in hand to buy a bed is the question?

12 thoughts on “Frugality versus reality”

  1. Totally had this problem a yr ago and I did what Lolo said I went to Sleep Center and asked what did they do with all their mattresses that were discontinued, they told me every 3rd Thursday of the month they sell the old mattresses and or floor models first come first serve.

    I know places like Z Gallerie and other furniture stores always sell all floor models at a heavy discounted price.

    Also try overstock.com they have some good deals sometimes on mattresses.

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