63: How much would you pay for a good nights sleep?

There are a lot of parallels between thirst, hunger, and sleepiness.  Your body needs water to satisfy thirst, food to satisfy hunger, sleep to satisfy sleepiness.  These are basic biological needs.  And it costs money to meet them.  

I’ve bought a bottle of water for $5, and I’ve gotten it free from a public water fountain.  My thirst was satisfied in both instances although I get annoyed at forking over a fiver for water.  

I’ve eaten Ramen noodles (10 packages for $10!) and I’ve paid $100 for an entree.  I enjoyed the entree more than the Ramen. . .  but I’ve also grown my own tomatoes and the satisfaction of eating them far outweighed the cost of the seed packet.    

I’ve slept on a friend’s couch for free and I’ve paid $500 for a hotel room.  I’ve also spent $5000 on a Tempurpedic mattress and who-knows-what on 1000-count sheets and a matching duvet.  But it didn’t improve my sleep quality significantly (even though I had hoped it would).

According to a survey conducted by the National Sleep Foundation in 2021, the average American spends around $54 per month on sleep-related products, including mattresses, pillows, and bedding.  Let’s say a mattress and bedding lasts 10 years.  That’s an average of $6480 over a decade.  

Spending money on sleep is much more likely if you have problems sleeping, so people who aren’t sleeping well are probably spending more.  

And that brings me to sleeping pills.  It’s common to turn to supplements and prescription medications to help with sleep.  The use of prescription sleep aids jumped in 2020 (any guesses why??), with 8.4% of American adults taking sleep medication either every day or most days to help them fall or stay asleep.  Women (10.2%) were more likely than men (6.6%) to take medication for sleep, and the use of medication generally increased with increasing age and may be underreported.  

There is a $65 billion per year market (up from $41 billion per year in 2016) for sleep aids.  This includes prescription sleep aids (such as Ambien) and over-the-counter sleep aids like melatonin, valerian root, Benadryl, magnesium, and others.  

Sleep aids are often used long-term, night after night.  But even Ambien, the sleep go-to drug, will get you only 20-45 minutes of extra sleep and its effects wane over time.  Not to mention that “Ambien sleep” is not normal sleep, and over time there is increasing concern for memory problems with long-term usage.  As for over-the-counter sleep aids, none of them have been shown to work reliably or be effective.  Marketing efforts will say otherwise because they are selling something.  But sleeping pills are the loose equivalent of empty calories.  

What do you spend on your sleep?  If you’re someone who has trouble sleeping you may be willing to pay more for the HOPE of what your bedding or sleep aids or gadgets might do, since your lack of sleep can significantly impact your quality of life.  But do these things actually make your sleep better?  No.  You know it, I know it.  Something is off here. 

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”  This parable demonstrates the importance of education and self-reliance, which are much more valuable than quick fixes or pills that mask a problem.  It applies to hunger and it applies to sleepiness.  Where sleep is concerned, you would be much better served to spend your time, your effort, and your money on skills.  Not pills.  It’s an investment with a wonderful return. 

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