I don’t love my imperfect vision. It’s no fun to have to correct it, but it’s my life. Things have also changed quite a bit since I first got glasses. Thanks to the internet, eye care is no longer prohibitively expensive.
Considering Vision Insurance
Unlike health insurance, vision insurance often isn’t worth it. When we last weighed the costs, we decided not to buy it for our family since I am currently the only one who needs vision correction. However, we noticed that our regular health insurance covers one vision exam every year! Since I go to the vision center in Walmart, that means I don’t have to pay any of the $75 for that exam. I do have to pay for my contact lens fitting, which usually costs me about $60. I chose Walmart for convenience. I don’t have any unusual eye problems, so an exam once a year is more than enough. We will reconsider getting vision coverage if our kids end up needing vision correction too.
Buying Glasses
When I got my first pair of glasses, I felt like a nerd. In 5th grade, that’s not a compliment. I kept them for a few years before finally getting contacts.
If you want to spend the least money on vision correction, glasses are the way to go! They usually last for many years, unlike contacts, which have to be replaced every month or so. I especially recommend skipping the glasses at the store and using zennioptical.com. Glasses there cost as little as $6! I’ve bought several pairs so far and have loved them.
Buying Contacts and Solution
Contact lenses are definitely cheaper online, too. I’ve used a couple of different sites to order them, such as https://www.lens.com/ and https://www.opticontacts.com/. A quick Google search for your specific brand of contacts will help you see where they’ll be cheapest. Usually, you have to order at least 3 boxes for each eye to get the best deal. I most recently bought lenses for $26 a box when they would have been $43 from Walmart and $50 directly from the eye doctor!
Also, consider buying generic contact solution. 2 bottles from Walmart cost $5 compared to $15 for the name brand stuff. I’ve never been able to tell a difference in how well it cleans my contacts. I can’t believe I used to be afraid to try the off brand.
Wear your contacts as long as you can. My eye doctor assured me that wearing contacts for twice as long as they’re “good for” is perfectly safe and that lots of people do it. I wear 2-week contacts for a month to 6 weeks, and I change them when they start to bug me instead of paying attention to the calendar. My eyes always check out healthy.
I’m glad to live in a time where glasses are considered fashionable and vision correction is easy to obtain. Eye care costs me so little that I barely think about it anymore.