It's easy for me to just write these things down. I make it sound so simple. But real life isn't always as easy as people make it seem. Is it really this easy?

Yes. And I'll show you right now. I want to give you some real life evidence that what I'm saying here is no fairy tale.

So I went shopping for a bed. I don't need a bed, but I wanted to show you how easy it is to get a discount. Here's what happened.

I pass a mattress store everyday on the way home from work. So I stopped in one day. A salesman asked me what size mattress I was looking for, and I said probably a full. He then explained to me that queen size mattresses are usually only about $20 more than full, so that might be a better buy. That's good to know. I honestly hadn't known that.

He then wanted to know if I was looking for something firm or soft. I said more soft than firm. So he had me try three different beds to see what level of softness I liked. Once we determined what I liked, he showed me the bed that he would recommend.

He then showed me a higher model of the same bed. This one was more expensive, but it was on closeout. It was on sale for $650 (about $200 off the "normal" price). So now it begins.

I said, "I guess I hadn't really thought about how much it would cost to get a new bed, but they're kind of…well, they're kind of expensive I guess." He agreed. It's something you don't purchase very often.

Now he took me back to the lower model. This one was $599 (queen size). Of course that was a sale price. Every bed in the store was on sale.

I stood there for a few seconds just looking at it. Hmmm. "So this is pretty much what it will cost me to get a bed, huh?"

Now he tells me he has a full size mattress from last year (same model) that's on closeout. He takes me into the back room to look at it. It looks fine. He opens a notebook and looks something up. Then he works out some numbers on his calculator. "I can let you have it for $434. It's normally $579."

I agreed that was a pretty good price. I had already explained to him earlier that I was only shopping for prices. That I could keep sleeping on my current bed but I'd prefer to get something a little more comfortable if I could. So he didn't pressure me to buy. I thanked him and told him I'd look around the store once more.

And that was it. I was in the store for about 20 minutes. I found a bed that I liked. And I got a 25% discount on it ($145 off). Why? Because I let the salesman know that I thought the prices were a little high. This is what I discussed earlier as Your Trump Card.

So that's all there is to it. If I can walk into a single store, look at beds for 20 minutes, and get an offer to save $145, then so can you. And if you go to several different stores, then you'll probably save even more money (like the $439 I saved on my current bed).

Best of luck with your shopping. And have fun!