Hi Jon Do,
I didn’t see any specific questions in your post but hopefully you’ve read the mattress shopping tutorial here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choices regardless of your budget or any circumstances or health conditions you may be facing.
Two of the more important links in the tutorial that I would especially make sure you’ve read are post #2 here which has more about the different ways to buy a suitable mattress that is the best “match” for you in terms of PPP (Posture and alignment, Pressure relief, and Personal preferences) that can help you assess and minimize the risks of making a choice that doesn’t turn out as well as you hoped for that are involved in each of them and post #13 here which has more about the most important parts of the “value” of a mattress purchase which can help you make more meaningful comparisons between mattresses in terms of suitability, durability, and value.
[quote]My BIGGEST issue is that I absolutely cannot be ambushed with needing a bed (as badly as I do right now) and being forced to try to budget this again within the next few years.
I’m mostly worried I will get a bed that I will need to replace in 5 years or less because it has lost its comfort; specifically in regards to how sensitive I am to things like this with my chronic pain. I go through pillows every few months as they lose their firmness or become too firm or no longer the right size. If the mattress becomes drastically softer, less supporting, imprints too much, or harder (like all my memory foam pillows), that could be catastrophic. And I am going to be hair trigger sensitive to all that stuff, particularly imprints and hardness.[/quote]
This is the biggest reason to make sure you avoid the major brands or any mattress that uses lower quality materials (in the comfort layers especially) and only consider mattresses where you can verify the quality and durability of the materials inside it (see this article).
The better options and possibilities I’m aware of in and around the Little Rock, AK area (subject to the value guidelines I linked eaerlier) are listed in post #2 here.
If you do decide to look online some of the better lower budget online options I’m aware of are listed in post #4 here.
Phoenix