What is a good price for a full-sized mattress?
No box springs, cost of hauling away old mattress & box included.
Sadly, cheap is important.
I’ve seen mattresses at big box stores for as little as $100, without delivery, but sleeping on one would probably kill your back. No delivery or disposal.
Our local furniture store has good sales after Christmas, with free delivery and set-up, and they’ll haul away the old one. Prices start at about $300, which I think is a bargain for a decent mattress.
The $100 dollar mattresses ( I just bought one for my daughter) are not really suited to adults. Usually thin foam.
If you want cheap, try the Salvation Army. They get them all the time from people who move out of the country, etc and leave a good bed. But watch out for those that are worn out.
They are always sanitized in a steam chamber for health code reasons.
We paid 350 for one that was on clearance, it was originally 1100. The box spring was another 50.
I did some research on buying mattresses and was depressed for weeks before I went shopping for a new one.
It seems mattresses are the ultimate scam…hardly any two stores have the same brands so you cannot realistically price compare any of them. The major difference is a bit of padding on the top - otherwise, they are all pretty much the same, despite all the hype and hoopla. The mark up is ridiculous, and the one that looks and feels the best is, in reality, the same one next to it for half the price only - once again, the top layer of padding is different.
I went to one of those cheapo shops in LA that sold nothing but mattresses and bought a cheap one (under $100) that I figured would last a year and then I would buy a better one. That mattress wasn’t half bad and we kept it for about 7 years!
Then here, we splurged on one for about $350 - it has thick padding on the top and the box spring and mattress are both fairly high, so the bed is way up off the ground - it is quite good, have had it for about 4 years now and no complaints.
So - my suggestion is to buy one with the most padding on top, for the cheapest price, and don’t let the salesperson badger you into the really expensive one. They like to say “you spend 1/3 of your life in bed, don’t scrimp here…” but in reality, they are thinking, “give me a nice commission and buy the one with $10 more padding on top for an additional $1000.”
And another thing about mattresses – the delivery guy said they need to be broken in. He said you need walk around on them to loosen things up. Padding shifts and settles and gets squished in shipping, so the brand new one that gets delivered to your house won’t feel as nice as the ones in the store that you laid down on. So walk on 'em.
How about a futon? I have one, an extra-thick queen size. It’s very comfy. I put it on top of my box spring and frame. It cost about $150 on sale. However, the price didn’t include hauling away any old stuff. Sorry.
No futons.
Okay. But just out of curiosity, how come no futons?
I get a very negaive impression of them, & would have to get all new bedlinens. I get a poor impression of the kind of back support they give.
If you’re worried about back support going ultra cheap might not be the best idea either. We just bought a new mattress a week or so ago, cost us $1k out the door for one marked at $3k. Prior to that I’d been sleeping on the same hand me down from the parents mattress since college. My back hurt, my hips hurt, my neck hurt…you get the picture. I know it’s a racket, but I’m insanely pleased with our purchase and the quality of my sleep has increased by an order of magnitude. From what I understand the same would have been true with one several hundred dollars less, but it would wear out faster and need replaced sooner. I’m a big believer in “Buy cheap, buy often, but buy well, buy once.”
A $1k mattress is financially impossible. Period.
My futon gives excellent support, both for sleep and, um, amatory pursuits. All the sheets from my previous innerspring mattress fit it just fine. I find my futon more comfortable than my mattress used to be.
I put an extra-long twin futon on my teenager’s room and he loves it. He wants to bring it to college with him. I also put a futon on the guest bed and several visitors have remarked on what a good night’s sleep they got.
FWIW, the futons are extra thick ones, not the thin, skimpy ones. That may make a difference to comfort and support.
My example is just that, my example. I’d never suggest that anyone should drop that kind of loot if it’s not plausible, but I stand by the idea that you should get the best you can. Ours was a queen to boot, you’re just looking at a full, right? That’s a lot cheaper right off the bat.
Just go to the mattress store and tell them what you can afford. Don’t let them push you around (they’re amazingly succeptable to the “Fine, I’m leaving” ploy).
I was reading something really recently (I wish I could remember where) that said the big difference between the matresses was really the padding on the top and not the coils. The recomendation was to get a relatively inexpensive mattress (like $200)and then buy a cheap memory foam mattress pad (they have them at Costco or overstock.com).
I also think your weight probably makes a bit difference. I would guess that two larger, heavier people will probably need more support and a better quality mattress to feel comfortable than say a single, relatively lightweight person.
Futons are the pits. My sister loves them and has several different ones for her den, kids rooms, and the guest bed, so I end up sitting and sleeping on them a lot.
The world’s least comfortable sofa that converts into the world’s least comfortable bed.
They seem to be fine for smaller people, like kids and sisters, but I find the bar in the back a royal pain sitting and sleeping. Why can’t they just put slimple support springs all the way across like the cheapie sofas and beds do?
Go to Ikea and get one of their lower end foam futon mattresses. For a few years you’ll get pretty good sleep out of it and it will be under $250 for sure. You can use your old linens as long as you are staying the same size (yeah, you may have to fold it under or have a little more trouble making your bed, but cheap usually costs effort).
Most municipalities have a few “bulk garbage” collection days a year. Throw your old mattress out then. Free.
Buying a spring mattress for under a hundred bucks is like paying someone to throw rocks at you. Unless you are furnishing a pay-by-the-minute motel, save your money for something useful.
fyi to According to Pliny, there is actually a massive variety of futon mattresses and frames. I have no idea what you mean by “bar in the back” that you seem to imply is a universal feature of futons (I’m only 5’11’’ if that matters).
I’m not sure if there is a location near you, but if there is, I bought a very nice and reasonably priced mattress from this place about eight years ago. Good luck! 
I would like to second the memory foam topper idea (perhaps even on your existing bed). Also, if there is a Denver Mattress Co. near you they have good mattresses at good prices.
No Ikeas in Tennessee.