Now, there's one more trick I can tell you about that will not only save you money on delivery, it will get your bed into your bedroom even faster. It's very simple, but it may not be realistic for everyone.

Be your own delivery person. If you have a pickup truck or a van, then just take it home yourself. Or maybe one of your friends has one. And maybe they would help you out. Of course, if you do have one of these vehicles, then you probably already thought of this.

But maybe you're like me, and you don't have a pickup truck or a van (or any friends who do). In fact, if you're like me, your car only has two seats. Don't worry. You can easily rent a truck or van from U-Haul or Ryder or anyone else who rents out these vehicles in your area.

But there are some things you need to think about before taking this on.

1. Do you have someone to help you carry the bed into your house once you get it home? Ideally, you should have someone to help you, especially for larger mattresses. If you try to take it on yourself, then just be sure you're up to the task.
   
   DO NOT do anything that will put you at risk of hurting yourself. The last thing you need to do is pull a muscle or fall down a flight of stairs because you're carrying a much-too-large mattress by yourself.
   
   So if you don't have someone to help you carry it, then I strongly advise against doing this. Even if you do have someone to help you, make sure both of you are physically capable. DON'T risk hurting yourself! It's better to pay for the delivery than to pay for a visit to the doctor.
   
   I was not so wise in the past. I took care of it all by myself when I first did this (with a queen size mattress), and I wish I'd gotten someone to help me. It was real tough hauling that big mattress on my back up the stairs. Only to find, when I got to the top, that I'd torn one of the corners!
   
   When you see the delivery guys carry these things, it looks easy, but don't be deceived. First of all, they've had a lot of practice. Second, they're probably stronger than most of us since they do this everyday.
   
   So just don't get yourself into a bind where you have a mattress in a truck in your driveway with no way to get it inside your house.
    
2. Make sure the place where you rent the truck is reasonably close to the place where you bought your bed. It's not absolutely necessary, but it will save you some time and possibly mileage charges. But these places are pretty common, so I don't think you should have a lot of trouble finding one.
    
3. Do the math to make sure that renting a truck will actually be cheaper than paying for delivery. If the delivery charge is only $30, and the rental truck costs $25 plus mileage, then you may not be saving money. Of course, even if this is the case, you'll still be getting your bed sooner. So it may be worth it to you even without the savings.

And when you're comparing the cost of delivery to doing it yourself, don't forget about the tip for the delivery guys. No, you're not required to tip them, but it's common that people do. So that could add another $10 or $20 onto the delivery charge.

They do expect it. My wife and I had a mattress and box spring delivered once. One of the delivery guys laid his clipboard on our couch while he and his partner hauled the bed into our bedroom. His clipboard had all of the paperwork that we needed to sign...and a stack of $20 bills. Hint, hint.

After they finished and got the papers signed, we hadn't tipped them yet. So one of them (Mr. Clipboard) sat down in our kitchen telling us what a long day it had been and asked for a drink of water. He didn't seem to be in any hurry to get home though. Another hint?

I was my own delivery person when I purchased my very first bed (the torn queen mattress mentioned above). It cost me about $30. It was $19.99 to rent a pickup truck from U-Haul. It was another $10 for mileage. The gas was only about $1. To have the bed delivered by the store would have cost me $40 or $50 (plus tip).

Driving to U-Haul, renting a truck, picking up the bed, driving it home, returning the truck, and driving back home in my own car took me all of one hour!

In contrast, the most recent bed my wife and I purchased was delivered by the store. We were too lazy to do it ourselves 9. The delivery charge was $40, plus a $10 tip. And we didn't get the bed until one full week after we bought it.

I think we'll do it ourselves next time!

So you can see, if you're able to take care of the delivery yourself, you can save both time and money. I love instant gratification.