Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Bought a Bed... for only $143!

Unfortunately, it is not the bed I had intended to buy. A friend of mine emailed me on a few days' notice, saying she'd be in town and wondering if she could crash at my place. One of the reasons I wanted to move out of my tiny studio apartment was to be able to have guests visit, but unfortunately I wasn't quite ready to start doing it yet!
My couch is not one that could be slept on by anyone but a midget. And though the futon I currently sleep on will someday become a guest bed, I don't own a real bed for myself yet. But in any case, I always knew I'd want room for more guests than that, as my sister and her husband and kids will eventually visit. So I had always intended to buy an Aerobed... and now I own one!
I can't offer any smart shopping tips here-- I've heard they can be found online at a discount, but I didn't have time for any of that. (Overstock.com has a few models for under $100, but not the exact one I bought.) However, I was lucky in that my hour of need coincided with a promotion at Bed, Bath and Beyond-- the purchase of a full-size Aerobed earns you a $30 Bed, Bath and Beyond gift card via mail in rebate. The bed was $159.99 plus tax, so after the rebate my net cost was about $143.
So that was one problem solved... but I then realized that even if my friend now had something to sleep on, she'd need something to sleep under. I have extra sets of sheets, but no extra winter blankets! I had thought I'd eventually replace my current duvet, so that was another thing I bought. By the time I added in a couple other small items, that was another almost $200.
These were fairly high-priced items, and I do wish I'd had more time to shop around for a good deal or otherwise just postpone spending the money... but I had to be a hostess with the mostess... on short notess.

One last scary fact about the implication of these purchases: I let it slip to my mother that I now had sleeping accomodations for guests... and she called me today to say that she's arriving in New York a week from tomorrow!!!!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the Aerobed club! I love my Aerobed. I am happy to admit that I now own two. One I keep up North at a family cabin and the other resides in my hall closet ready to transform my dining room or home office into a guest room on moments notice :)

I used to transport it as needed, but once others discovered how comfortable it was, I was disuaded from removing it from the cabin!

mapgirl said...

Since I still live in a studio, I passed on an Aerobed for a real live grown-up pull out couch. No more college futon for me! I think getting that couch represents my first 'adult' furniture and not the other disposable crap I have for everything else. But I love Aerobeds when my friends have them. They're only bad if there's a slow leak in them. Otherwise, I think they're awesome.

Anonymous said...

You done did it girl..you mom knows..well GL and don't worry...I still eed to invite my mom over but our relationship is not the same...I still miss her even though we get into it

Andi @ udandi / Lunch It Punch It said...

I guess with that BB&B promotion you couldn't use the 20% off? I always keep a few of the coupons because they take expired ones or Linens n Things.

My friends and I love the Aerobeds because we are road-trippers and can throw them in the car. I keep a set of sheets in the bag with the bed so it's ready to go.

I love the movie Junebug when the dad is standing watching the aerobed fill up

Anonymous said...

Midget is a derogatory word in the Little People community, they say it is comparable to using the "N" word to describe African-Americans. They prefer to be called Little People or LP's. Just thought I would pass that along.

Anonymous said...

I also purchased the Aerobed, but at Linens and Things because they had the same rebate offer. Problem is, I bought it in OCTOBER and it's mid-January and I STILL haven't received the gift card in the mail! Did anyone else have this problem? Can anyone tell me how you can track your rebate? I had the original paperwork but it got lost over the holidays, and I called LNT and they couldn't track it for some reason. If anyone saved their paperwork, could they tell me the website or phone number where I can find out WHERE MY GIFT CARD IS!?!?
Thanks!

Anonymous said...

My wife bought the bed in Nov using the L&T Rebate offer. No rebate as of Feb 08. She found out, after a lot of run-around from everyone, that the company issuing the rebate checks is "CLOSED". The bed is fine, but not worth the full price. I have THREE inflatables, and my lower cost ones are just as good. This was only worth it-- minus the rebate.