Sometimes it's funny how things work out. I've needed a new mattress for about a year now, but after waking up AGAIN with my back killing me I figured I would spend the afternoon working on this problem in a constructive way. Between muscles prone to go out leftover from a 2005 car accident and the inordinate amount of time I spend in bed, far more than the typical third of my days, I really should have taken action before now, but laziness and life events just kept getting in the way.

To be clear, I also hate shopping for most things, but I thought I'd check out products and prices and come back another day.

Also to be clear, I'm relatively cheap even when I know that I need something.

Anyway, of course I see the $3,000 mattress parked in the front of the store and know to go to the very back to locate the ones I'd even consider. I also notice that there are now "standard" options for adjustable beds, things I've only seen in the context of hospitals or Medicare (or both), although it tacks on over $1,000 to the total price.

Long story short, I ended up chatting with the sales rep for over an hour, and landed myself an adjustable bed for only $350 extra along with a reasonably priced mattress. For me it was worth the extra cost because of the aforementioned bad back, because my apartment is so small I can use it to double as a seat if necessary, and in case I get a respiratory infection. Score!

I think the takeaway lesson is that window shopping can come in handy if you know what you're looking for, or even if you're not, as long as you're ready to take advantage of whatever sale you run into. As my father is so fond of saying, luck is when preparation meets opportunity. And while I wish that would occur more often in other areas of my life, this was good enough for today. Delivery on Wednesday.

I even got the rep's phone number :). Definitely lucky.