​Create a Bedding Budget to Avoid Budget Bedding

“It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money - that's all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do.” John Ruskin (1819-1900)

Or, as Benjamin Franklin (1706-90) previously, and more succinctly, phrased it, “The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.”

Modern Americans seem to be heeding this good advice from centuries ago – average spending on bedding increased by 25% between 2018 and 2019. Given the physical distancing and stay-at-home protocols in 2020, one can expect that people will continue to upgrade their personal space. Here is how you can join them with just a little planning and a bit of imagination.

Because you spend so many hours engaged with your bedding, it is important to have a plan to periodically replace it, as you would with any other essential household necessity. Unlike a can of beans, your refrigerator’s water filter, or your car’s “change oil” warning, bedding does not come with an expiration date or “change me” alert. Health experts and manufacturers advise that mattress pads, sheets, comforters, and pillows should be changed every two years.

Focus first on the pillow. The pillow is the bedding item that can make or break a sleeping experience. The Intelli-Pedic™ FlexSupport™ 3-in-1 Adjustable Pillow is unique in that it has two different filling styles and can transform into three sleep styles, which delivers the perfect sleep regardless of your sleep position.

Look at your mattress pad next. If you have an older bed, a thicker mattress pad like the Spa Luxe Tencel Plush can do wonders for your comfort. If you have a newer bed, protect your investment with a thinner, waterproof mattress pad like the Intelli-Pedic™ One Mattress Pad.

Also keep in mind that your comforter is an essential accessory for your comfort and for temperature regulation through the night. This Intelli-Pedic™ ComfortOne™ All Seasons Comforter is an ideal option for year-round comfort.

Here is an example of a reasonable budget to replace the main items of your bedding, using queen-size products and pricing from the DOWNLITE website:

• Four pillows - $160
• Mattress pad - $90
• Down Alternative Comforter - $125
• Sheets - $100 (You may want to consider multiple sets to allow rotating between laundry days.)

You can see that with a budget of less than one dollar per day ($0.78 to be exact in the above example), you can replace your bedding basics with hotel quality bedding almost every couple years. The difference this could make in your environment, your sleep, and your life should not be underestimated. Sleep is essential; comfortable sleep is attainable and could improve your life in unexpected ways -- even more than money!

Here are some tips to help you save that dollar or two per day, which can make all the difference between waking up on the wrong side of the bed and rising ready to take on the world.

• Only shop when you have a list.
• After filling your on-line shopping cart, wait 48 hours before you click “buy.” Many retailers offer coupons when you sign up to your cart and add discounts for abandoned carts.
• Choose quality over quantity/low price. As Ben Franklin knew, this applies not only to hotel quality bedding, but also to food, clothes, tools – pretty much everything you buy.
• Don’t be afraid of money; write down what you have, what you make and owe, and what you want to do, then look at it every week and see how you are doing.
• Have coffee at home. Poor Starbucks – this is everyone’s number one idea to cut daily cost. The good news here is that you only have to skip that fancy coffee once a week to replace your bedding.

Budgeting is not easy, but just a dollar or two a day will ensure that you are not faced with a bedding emergency that results in the last-minute purchase of budget bedding. Better to purchase hotel quality bedding according to an ongoing (and budgeted) plan of life improvement.

In a nutshell, stop putting money under your mattress and start to invest into your bedding.

Photo credit thanks to @yogameetstravel