Bed Economics: How Much you Should be Spending & Why

We often get folks popping in store complaining about the high cost of new mattresses.

Fair enough, the cost of living these days is quite high but think about it for a minute…

Is that mattress really that expensive considering how often and long you use it for!?

Putting Costs into Perspective

South Africans, in general, have the habit on spending more on good other can see than goods that can have a positive effect on their lifestyle. Though the paradigm shift is in motion, sometimes it’s good to take stock and reaccess our priorities.

I always ask my customers:

Why they are happy to fork out hundreds of thousands on a vehicle, which they only use on average 2 hrs a day, whereas they won’t spend R10k on a mattress which they will use for 7-8hrs every night! (for the next 5 to 10 years).

Let us unpack that example a bit:

• – On average we spend about 6-8hrs a night in bed.
• – Most folks on average spend 1-2hrs a day in their vehicle.
• – The average price of a car today is R200k. Repayments on a car that price is about R4000 pm
• – The average price of a decent bed is about R8k (obviously there are cheaper model mattresses same as there are more affordable model cars, but for the sake of simplicity, let’s use these ballpark figures)
• – Say the lifespan of both the car and mattress is 10yrs.

Doing the Maths: Spending on a Quality Mattress vs a New Car

Let’s unpack this example further by doing the actual Maths:

Comparrison Angle	New Mattress	New Car
Cost	R 8,000	R 200,000
Average Time spent using daily	7 hours	2 hours
Lifespan	10 years	10 years
Cost per Year	R 800	R 48,000
Cost per Month	R 66.66	R 4,000
Cost per year Day	R 2.22	R 133.33
Cost per Hour	R 0.31	R 66.66

So as we can see, your car is costing you over 200 times what your mattress is if you factor it down to usage!
That’s R2.22 vs R133.33 for daily use; not inclusive petrol + running costs for car – this can push up the cost so much more.

Still think mattresses are overpriced?!

Results:

Our study clearly shows that investing in a good quality mattress makes much more financial sense than investing in a car – and we haven’t even touched on how much your body with thank you. We also know that a bed is a much more important buy than most of the everyday items we purchase. As such, don’t just buy any old mattress.

Do your research and invest in the best mattress for you. You don’t have to spend a fortune to get something that’s perfect for your needs, but you also shouldn’t skimp on the mattress which may cause health issues later on.

Contact Us

For the best advice on getting a bed to suit your pocket, give the contact us here or give us a call on 021 671 3220!