Magazines don’t pay for all of the products they review and report on (Consumer Reports is the exception, I think, and some but not all restaurant critics and movie critics).
If you are going to promote someone’s “stuff”, see if they’ll send you a gift pack.
I have a friend who would rather live in a studio apartment in NYC than have a 1000 acres in Montana. I’m just the opposite, but it is his mentality that leads to the cost of living in NYC.