How I Accidentally Sold My Mattress

Behold: a cautionary tale of overzealous purging.

You’ll recall that we are getting ready for a big life change and moving across what feels like the whole world, from Tennessee to Alaska. To make this possible we are getting rid almost everything we own, allowing the Army to pack and move for us what little they will and starting over.

We had a few bigger ticket items that I thought would be hard to sell because they had bigger price tags. I was surprised by how fast my piano sold. But still I thought that my bedroom set, which I wanted to sell for at least $600, would be hard to move. We also knew that we wanted to get rid of our old mattress, which was comfortable enough but 10 years old.

My game plan: sell my bedroom set. Step two: trick someone into taking away the mattress and boxspring (because who wants to buy a 10-year-old mattress?) right before we leave. Step three: buy new mattress in Alaska.

Reality: Instead of taking months to sell my furniture, I had someone wanting to buy it within just a few days. She wanted the dresser, mirror, bed frame and bed stand.

But then I heard the following come out of my mouth: “You want the mattress and boxspring? I’m selling it for $50.”

I had the best intentions. It’s just that the purging took hold of my mind. Eight full weeks before we hit the road, I had purged out my very own bed from under me.

Oops.

That left us with a few options. We could sleep on an air mattress for two months. We could bust out the camping cots and sleep on those for two months. Or we could buy a new mattress and let the Army move it.

We chose mattress buying. And it all worked out for the best. We have the new mattress we were going to buy anyway, for probably less than we would’ve spent in Alaska.