Are you ready to see green?

Those of us with less than perfect eye sight have a few more expenditures than those with perfect 20/20 vision. Here is a few pointers on how The Frugal Geek saves on vision related items.


First off let's cover eyeglasses. Even those of us fortunate enough to be able to wear contacts still need a good pair of glasses for backup and those times when our eyes just need a rest. But who wants to spend hundreds of dollars on one pair of glasses that they may wear once a month or less?!?!?! Well NO MORE I tell you. Enter zennioptical.com. They have eyeglasses starting at $6.95 a pair with lenses. Every pair of glasses come with the following:

• Anti-scratch coating
• 1.50 or Thin and light 1.57 Index single vision lens
• Full UV Protection
• Protective case
• Microfiber cleaning cloth

That is even on the $6.95/pair glasses! The most expensive frames are around $46/pair and you can get progressive lenses added from $28.90 and bifocals from $23.95. Orders ship for $4.95 in the USA or $9.99 for international. I for one want to know what the glasses will look like on me and they have this neat wiget that you can upload a photo of yourself to "virtually" try on a pair of glasses. We ordered Mrs. Frugal Geek 3 pair of glasses with the anti-glare coating and all the normal addon's they give you free for around $40 shipped to our door. We also ordered me a single pair of titanium metal frames with higher index lens' and the anti scratch coating for around $45 shipped. That is TITANIUM frames now. Now you don't get some name brand designer frames but they do have some that look very similar ;)

The one thing you will need that is not most likely going to be on your prescription that your optometrist wrote you is your PD or Pupilary Distance, That is the distance between your pupils of your eyes. If you don't have this number you can ask your optometrist next time you go in for a checkup or just next time you are in Walmart run by the vision center and ask them if they can measure your pupilary distance. If they give you a hassle about it just be nice and tell them you found a place that you can get glasses super cheap and in these days and times you need to save all the money you can.

Now for those of you wearing contacts. You may have already known about this but the best place we have found to get contacts is 1800contacts.com. You will need your optometrist to write your prescription for the exact brand and style you want or they won't be able to fill it.

The good deal about both of these is if you are able to take advantage of a medical reimbursement program like Medflex or similar they usually cover these expenses as reimbursable medical. So you can actually pay for these items out of pre-tax dollars to save even more.

What do you think? Did this help you see (save) more green? If so please be sure to spread the word about our blog to your friends, family, coworkers, etc. Also feel free to shoot me some ideas on topics you would like covered in future posts or if you have any questions on anything we have posted. Till next time keep it frugal!

The Frugal Geek