How You and Your Family Can Save Money on Glasses and Contacts

If you wear glasses or lenses on a regular basis then you’ll know just how expensive it can be to maintain them. Glasses can easily cost hundreds if you buy them immediately after your eye examination, and you can also be expected to pay a lot for the examination itself. If you’ve been wearing glasses for a long time then you’ve probably spent upwards of thousands on them. This can get even more expensive as you age, and if your kids need glasses from an early age then you need to add them to the cost as well.

Being frugal about glasses is possible, but many people usually take the wrong approach to it. For example, some may consider using the same pair of glasses for a long time to be frugal. However, your eyesight changes over the years and it’s actually important to get regular eye examinations. Sure, you don’t need to do this every year if you don’t want to, but it’s still important to get them checked up because your vision can get worse over the years.

So in this post, we’re going to talk about how you can save money on glasses and contact lenses.

Look for ways to save on your eye examinations

Everyone’s eye care starts from their first eye examination. If you want to save money here, you’re going to need to look for ways to subsidise your eye examination. For adults, it’s possible to save money on eye exams in a number of different ways. For example, your employer could offer a free eye checkup every year, or if you’re above a certain age, you might be able to get one for free from particular services. For children, you might be able to get a free eye examination if they’re below a certain age or if it’s their first time getting their eyes checked with the optometrist.

You should also consider looking out for local deals. Sometimes, an optometrist might offer a discounted or even free eye examination if you’re a new customer. You might also get letters in the mail from previous optometrists that you’ve visited encouraging you to come back for a free or cheaper eye examination. If you do your research, you’ll find that you can save a considerable chunk of money by just being patient and taking advantage of discounts and savings whenever possible.

Request your prescription after the eye examination

Your eyes are rated with what’s known as a prescription. After your optometrist examines your eyes, they’ll usually produce a couple of values that are used to describe your eye condition. It’s usually expressed by numbers under the headings OS and OD, referring to oculus sinister (the left eye) and oculus dextrous (the right eye). The further away from 0 these values are, the worse your eyesight is. When the number is negative, you’ll have nearsightedness. When the value is above zero, you have farsightedness.

The reason these numbers are important is that it helps to define the type of lenses that you need to correct your vision. These numbers are also used to help you pick the right contact lenses for your eyes. Most people will have the same prescription in both eyes, but there’s always a slight chance that you could have a vision imbalance where one eye has a different prescription to the other.

You’ll want to know your prescription because it helps you save a lot of money on glasses. When buying glasses from your optometrist, there may be additional fees involved when buying glasses or contacts, and there’s a chance that there are no glasses that you like from their selection. While they might have a selection of cheaper frames, they might not be suitable for you or you might want a different pair. Your kids might also have a small selection available and you don’t want to force them to wear something they dislike.

When you have your prescription, you can actually buy glasses and contacts online on websites such as https://www.eyeglasses.com. These websites sell glasses and the lenses at a much lower price and there’s a wide selection of frames available. You can also buy contact lenses from these websites by just giving your prescription. It usually works out cheaper because these websites don’t offer eye examinations, meaning they don’t have to pay staff to carry out people’s eye examinations and they can focus their cost savings on giving customers better value.

Take good care of your glasses

There are lots of ways to take care of your glasses. This will prolong their life and ensure that you don’t end up needing to replace them shortly after buying them. Here are a couple of tips on how you can maintain your glasses with ease:

• If you’re prone to dropping the glasses, use straps to keep the glasses around your neck. However, if they are falling off regularly, you may want to get a smaller pair of glasses for a tighter fit.

• Have a glasses repair kit. These small kits are usually very inexpensive and come with all of the screws, screwdrivers and other small tools that are needed to repair glasses at home. It’s a small investment for something that can save you a lot of time and hassle.

• Get yourself a case for the glasses. When transporting glasses around, it’s always a good idea to get yourself a hard case. These will prevent the lenses from being scratched and will stop them from being crushed if you need to throw them into your bag.

• Consider getting insurance for your glasses. This will protect your glasses from being damaged or even lost. We would only suggest this if you’ve got a pair of expensive glasses you want to protect. Otherwise, it may be cheaper just to buy a second pair to keep as spare and take greater care of your main pair of glasses.

What are your ways to save money on glass and contact lenses?

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