Sleep is an important thing, and goodness knows we spend a third of our lives in bed if you tally it up. But that's a mighty expensive mattress. Your finances should probably be what makes the decision for you. Read on if you want to hear a candid review from a memory foam bed-owner.

We bought one of those Tempurpedic beds nearly two years ago, and it's good and comfortable and all, but I still feel sick when I think about the amount of money we spent on that thing. Fancy foam rubber simply ought not to cost that much, and I truly prefer the way a firm innerspring mattress feels anyway.

One of the things they don't tell you about that memory foam stuff is that, over time, it does mash down and doesn't always spring back in the same way it's advertised as doing. You do eventually get slight body impressions in it, no matter what the manufacturers say, and that's especially true on my husband's side of the bed. He's a tall and very solid, sturdy guy, and I can't help but wonder if a regular mattress might withstand his weight better.

Those beds are heavy, they're hard to move, and they cost an arm and a leg. They also have almost no bounce, which is good if you don't want to feel the bed move when your spouse gets up early in the morning. But (I'm not sure how to put this delicately) there are times in married people's beds when a little bounce-backability is nice, if you know what I mean. So consider, too, that for the next ten years or however long you might keep the thing, it also provides a different foundation upon which to have sex--one where you can't rely on the bounce-back capabilities of an innerspring mattress to help with some of the movement.

They are comfortable and supportive, no doubt about that. And they're warm, which is nice in the wintertime. But if I had it to do over again? I'd definitely get a regular bed and spend that other money on something I could enjoy while I was conscious. Let us know whether this helps persuade her. I wish someone had told me the same thing before we bought the one we have.