“People buy shoes online even though you can’t try them on… a mattress is no different, right?” Faced with buying a new mattress two years ago, I uttered these words to Mrs. Frugalwoods and then embarked on a frugal slumber experiment. My goal was to see if my wife and I could buy a mattress online, save tons of money, and still get a great night’s sleep. Let’s start at the beginning. Mrs. Frugalwoods is what we would lovingly call an “active sleeper.” She is a tiny woman with powerful kicking legs. Must be all that yoga. We had a double bed for the first several years of our marriage and I have the scars to prove it! So when we moved back to the Northeast a few years ago, getting a bed large enough to provide Mrs. Frugalwoods with room to roam and myself to sleep without being pummeled was on the top of my list. And holy mother-of-pillowtop are king sized mattresses expensive! This low-end tempurpedic is $2,400! Our car isn’t worth $2,400! The Mrs. and I saw those prices and were not impressed.
It also quickly became apparent that mattresses are extremely profitable and sold in a manner similar to used cars. I do not need a salesperson to assist me, thank you very much. But we really needed a mattress. So we made a list of our snoozing requirements and asked the internet. anyway (gloves for hound teeth brushing, for example) so it was a natural place to start looking. Turns out, they have an entire mattress section. After reading through a bunch of the firm mattress reviews, we settled on the LUCID 8″ Memory Foam Mattress. It checked all the boxes and 2 years ago was only $279 for the king size. Plus, and this is the really crazy part, Prime Shipping! That’s right, Amazon shipped a king sized mattress to our door in a mere 2 days from ordering it, FOR FREE. When it arrived, we warily eyeballed the heavy, awkward, long tube that the mattresses was vacuum packed into. The box was plastered with warnings to put the box in the room where you want the mattress before opening it and releasing the tightly coiled foam.
We carefully put the box in the bedroom and then slit the straining plastic holding back the surging foam mattress. As dramatic as it sounds (and as we had imagined it), in reality the foam just slowly unrolled itself and started gaining the shape of a mattress. Did it smell a little “new car-ish” (for lack of a better term)? Yes, but it wasn’t overwhelming. The box suggested leaving the windows open for a few hours while the foam attained its shape. We opened the box when we got home from work and by the time we were ready to go to bed, the smell was no longer noticeable. So how does a $279 mattress from the internet feel? I actually remember chuckling as I lay down for the first time. We picked the 8″ version specifically because it was the firmest (they also make 10″ and 12″ which are softer) and wow does it deliver. Firm but comfy and extremely supportive of our backs. Two years later, internet mattress is still firm and supportive! Since this mattress has foam layered in a specific order, you can’t flip it but you can rotate it.
We do that every 6 months to try and keep the wear level the same. So far I haven’t noticed any significant settling of the foam. One of the things I was most concerned about was how it would feel during the summer. I’d heard from some people that memory foam can hold the heat next to your body. In practice we haven’t noticed any additional heat. In short, it’s been a great mattress and we expect to get many more years of good sleep on it! Over the past two years, I’ve evangelized buying a mattress from Amazon to coworkers and friends, several of whom have bought the same or similar mattresses. So far no complaints! Take a look at the Amazon mattress section, in particular the Lucid foam mattress, and keep it in mind the next time you’re in the market for a bed. Have you purchased a mattress online? Ever thought about it? Think it’s the weirdest thing ever? Let me have it! Note: I bought the mattress with my own money. No one paid me to do this review, I just think it’s a pretty awesome way to save money. T
he links to the mattress are affiliate links, which means if you also score a deal on a great mattress, Amazon will pay the Frugalwoods Family a small percentage of the sale. Frugal Hound thanks you in advance! Never Miss A Story Sign up to get new Frugalwoods stories in your email inbox.college, freshman survival tips, freshman year, packing for college I’m from Southern California, so I didn’t drive to college. I flew Southwest (first two checked bags are free!) and checked in a suitcase and a military duffel bag. I brought my guitar on board with me as a carry-on. How did I manage to fit everything I needed for 9 months into a suitcase and a duffel bag? Read on to find out. 1. If you’re from a warmer climate, you might not need to buy a winter coat yet. a) You’ll have a better selection in a city that actually gets cold. b) Winter coats can be bulky, and you don’t want that when you’re packing. c) You’re not going to need it for a while anyway.
Or, if you’re like me, you’ll handle the cold well, and people will think you’re crazy for never buying a proper coat. (Hey, I thought it was a coat! But my friends from cold climates insist it’s nothing more than a heavy jacket.) 2. Rain boots are a good idea. A really good idea. There’s a DSW right by the Target and Bed Bath and Beyond in Brentwood, MO. 3. You don’t need multiple irons, several dry-erase boards for your door, etc. So talk with your roommate(s) before buying the non-personal things. For example, Madison’s floor lamp, Loren’s shower head, and my full-length mirror were used by all. We made a Google Docs spreadsheet and worked on it together before we got to St. Louis. It was set up something like this: Madison Dera Loren Price Product link If we found something online, we included a link so everyone could look at it. It was fun to look at comfy chairs and used TVs and such, but you really don’t need all that.
We did just fine without comfy chairs (what’s more comfortable than sitting on a TempurPedic mattress?), and we were glad we didn’t buy a TV (Netflix + laptop > cable TV). 4. Bed Bath & Beyond College Registry Did you know you can choose your dorm supplies at the BB&B in your hometown and then pick them up in St. Louis? You don’t even have to pay for them until you pick them up. With the Pack ‘n’ Hold system, you simply go to the store, have them scan the items you want, and the exact same item will be set aside for you in St. Louis in a storage container that’s just for you. Then when you get to St. Louis you don’t have to waste time looking for your items. There’s also a “shop online and ship later”option. Click here for more information. 5. In order to avoid conflict over who’s buying the toilet paper and other bathroom/cleaning supplies*: a) Everyone contributes the same amount of money towards a Housekeeping Fund. Put the money in an envelope where everyone can access it.
b) Take turns going to the store when you need to buy more, or go together. c) When the funds run out, everyone contributes the same amount to refill it. *This applies more to modern dorms, since you have your own bathrooms and can furnish them how you like. 6. Here’s a random list of essential supplies: -lots of socks and underwearI had two Spanish dictionaries at home. I forgot to bring any and had to buy another one at school. Now I’m the proud owner of three Spanish-English dictionaries. So pack your mini dictionary if you’re taking a language class. I’m selling a Langenscheidt-brand Spanish dictionary. Contact me if you need one :) ) -you won’t need shower flip-flops if you live in a modern dorm -tall plastic storage bins can fit under you bed if you raise it. And no, you don’t need to buy risers. There are slots in the bed post. 1. You don’t need as much as you think you do.You get a lot of free t-shirts, especially within the first week.
Don’t clean out your bookcase just yet. I remember being surprised when I discovered the popular fiction section of Olin library. I expected only boring old texts, but no — Olin has a lot of your favorite books already. I packed six of my favorite books to take with me to college. I ended up using only one, and it was for a book report in Spanish 307. I did read several books for fun freshman year, but they were all from Olin, Amazon, or the campus bookstore. Even for school supplies, I found I overpacked. I ended up bringing home a freezer-size Ziploc bag stuffed with erasers, index cards, pens, pencils, and white-out that I didn’t use. I also had way too much loose notebook paper because I changed my note-taking habits and started using legal pads. 2. Roll your clothes instead of folding them. It saves a lot of space in your suitcase, and your clothes won’t get get wrinkled. 3. If you buy your textbooks ahead of time, have them shipped to your WashU campus box address.
Then you can just pick them up instead of packing them. Also, you might want to hold out on buying textbooks. Lock & Chain has a book sale during the first week of school where students sell their used books for cheap. I also recommend buying used books on Amazon. Earlier I posed the question: how did I manage to fit everything I needed for 9 months into a suitcase and a duffel bag? Well, it was a trick question. Just pack the essentials, and buy the rest when you get to school. When you arrive at WashU, you’ll be able to see the size of your dorm and bathroom before you go shopping, which will help you know how much you can fit in your room. Here are some pictures of my dorm room that I took at the beginning of freshmen year. Disclaimer: The above picture shows an atypical room size. My roommates and I lived in Dardick 2227. It’s a triple, it has three windows, and it’s huge. It is also right next to the elevator, the stairs, the trash room, the kitchen, the study room, and the parking lot.