The other day a friend called and asked me for some advice on personal finance. I was pretty flattered because it has only been a year since I first began reading and studying personal finance. In only one year I have already seen the positive effects that studying personal finance has had on my life. Looking back, I realize that what was most beneficial to me was automating my payments, measuring my current expenses, and cutting back on large expenses.

This post is about how I was able to cut back on eyewear, which had been a large expense for me.

Normally my vision insurance covers my purchase of glasses, but this year I broke my glasses and when I went to the store I was told that I wouldn’t be covered by my insurance. When I was told the glasses would cost me over $250, I didn’t know what to do. As I am in school, I am sure you can understand that I did not have that type of money to spend.

After looking at less expensive glasses, which were not much lower in price, I decided to look online for help.  When I looked online I found out that I could have bought the exact same pair of eyeglasses online that I had been looking at for less than half the price. I read online that a frame that costs less than $25 to make in Europe can retail for at least $150 in the United States.

As I continued to look online, I found the answers to all of the questions I had about purchasing eyewear online. For one, all I needed in order to buy glasses online was a prescription and a PD measurement from my eye doctor. Also, if I needed to have my frames adjusted, I could just go to a local optical shop and they would do it for a very small fee.

I decided to purchase a pair of glasses online and I couldn’t be happier with how they turned out. Now I also purchase contacts and sunglasses online. I am able to save $10 for every contact box I buy online.

You can purchase sunglasses online too. It is kind of silly for me to watch people purchase sunglasses at retail stores now because I realize how much they are overpaying for sunglasses.

Purchasing eyewear online not only lowered my costs, but it also saved me a lot of time. If you are looking to cut your large expenses this year, seriously consider looking at shopping online for your eyewear. If you want to know where to start, here are some popular websites to purchase glasses:

• Eyeglasses.com — Website that sells glasses; received an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB)
• EyeBuyDirect.com — Popular website for glasses

Here are some websites to look for sunglasses:

• FramesDirect.com — Large sunglasses website online
• Zappos.com — They now sell sunglasses!

Lastly, here are some popular websites to purchase contacts:

• 1800contacts.com — Very well known website; you can see some their commercials on television.
• Lens.com — Another popular website

Tags: vision insurance, Insurance, retail stores, glasses, eyeglasses, sunglasses, eye doctor, eyewear, optical shop

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This post was written by Terry Cutter

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