Shopping for a Cheap Mattress

So you have just moved in to your dream house. Buying one isn't easy but the fun now starts. The challenge of turning one into a home begins with making excellent choices to furnish your new home. As you plow through showrooms and displays, think quality.

Especially in your bedrooms, quality remains to be the controlling factor to every purchase. How then do you match your need for quality bedroom furnishings and your recession budget? Can you get a cheap mattress without sacrificing quality? Read on for some tips:

1. Know how to shop. Cheap doesn't mean inferior quality. With that in mind, a cheap mattress is that which is reasonably priced. You can get top-of-the-line mattresses at huge discounts from wholesale shops. Ask for bulk discounts. Most stores would offer you a substantial discount for buying at least three mattresses at once. Or you can buy in sets. Buy a cheap mattress with matching pillows and linens and you'll leverage your bargaining position. Remember, when you buy in bulk, you get a better deal.

2. Know where to shop. Of course, if your budget can't afford even the discounted price for the cheapest mattresses made from memory foams, log on to Amazon or eBay or shop around garage sales. You'd find some slightly used items in very good condition. The trick is to window-shop at high-end shops in Beverly Hills or London and have a look at what they offer. Then go to the bargain shops and look for those items. You won't only get the same brand; you'll save hundreds of dollars in the process.

3. Know when to buy. Seasonal products would be sold at super low prices toward the end of the season. If you want to get a cheap mattress that's specifically for winter, buy one nearing spring. Retail stores don't like large inventories of seasonal items as it costs a lot to store these inventories for at least half a year. It's normal to find end-of-season inventory sales so watch out for these opportunities to bring home a posh, but cheap mattress for your beds at home.

4. Know how to pay. Bank charge businesses collection fees for every credit card purchase they process at point-of-sale terminals. Customers don't realize that stores make more money when they pay with cash because they won't need to pay banks with corresponding collection fees. With that in mind, when you go shopping for home furnishings, speak to the store manager about allowing you a cash discount. Even if a cheap mattress, for example, is not advertised to be on sale, if you buy in bulk and pay in cash, you're likely to get a cash discount from the store. In addition, ask about the store's loyalty program. Most stores have loyalty programs that include cash rebates allowed to customers for reaching a certain dollar amount in charges.

Furnishing your home on a budget is not impossible. It takes a bit of planning, a lot of patience and good research skills to find the items that you need. Quality does come with a price but it need not be in dollars.