Eyecare is extremely important, especially when you’re someone who has been diagnosed with conditions of the eye. For people with vision and sight issues, the yearly check-up on its own can blow a huge hole in your wallet. Apart from this expense, regular upgrading of eyeglasses or contact lenses can end up taking a huge portion of your savings.
However, it is not possible to omit eye care or use OTC medications, and hope your problem goes away. Following what your doctor prescribes is of utmost importance. What you can do, however, is understand how you can save money on your purchases of glasses and lens.
8 Tips To Follow When Trying to Save on Eyeglass Costs
There are not many things that you can control when it comes to eye care, and expenditure is inevitable. However, you can help yourself by following these tips to save a sufficient amount on the cost of your eyeglasses.
- Research: Even before you can have your eye exam, study up on the kind of choices that are available and look at the features they offer. This helps you be prepared to ask your doctor questions about which kind of option is best for you, which features are important, and which features are simply accessories.
This helps avoid overpaying for extra additions that you don’t need. You can also look for what people have to say about choosing lenses, frames, and add ons online.
- Set Up an Eye Examination: Whether you’re buying glasses for the first time or the 10th, if your prescription is over a year old, you’re going to need a new one. An optometrist can provide you with a prescription describing your vision needs and the pupillary distance.
This helps you save money on two fronts: If you buy glasses with your outdated prescription and your needs have changed, you’ll have to buy another pair almost immediately. The second part is that you can use these prescriptions to shop at external, cheaper eyewear shops instead of spending a bomb at the doctor’s office.
- Explore Various Frames: Explore various frames on various websites. Trying them on at a physical store once can help you know what kind of frames suit you. This will help you shop online or offline for exactly what you want. Record the prices, return policy, and the warranty offered by multiple sellers as well.
- Compare: Using the information you got from the previous steps, compare the prices and features of eyeglasses in multiple different stores. This will help you find the best deals, discounts, and the lowest prices on great quality frames.
- Shop Online: Online stores offer far more discounts than physical stores. They offer discounts for occasions, first-time users, loyalty coupons, and more. You can also look out for stores that offer extra discounts at particular times of the year or those which are currently having clearance sales. You might find great options for extremely affordable prices!
- Divide and Conquer: If you find that no one store offers you all that you want, you can split up the parts and buy from multiple stores. You can book your examination at the most affordable clinic, buy frames from one store, and lenses from another, depending on your choices.
- Watch out for add-ons: Many stores will price glasses much higher due to the addition of extra features, which are often mentioned in the fine print. When looking for glasses, look at all the features listed and look out for add ons. Even though stores might portray them to be important for you, there are some that you absolutely won’t need.
- Look into the Buy 1 Get 1 Free offer: Having a second pair of glasses is always handy, in case your primary pair breaks. However, look for buy 1 get 1 free/ at ‘X’ percent off, and you can save a lot of money. If you’d rather change pairs every year, you can offer to buy one for yourself and one for a family member or friend who needs glasses as well, saving both on a lot of money!
Eye Care is expensive and that is not easily avoidable. However, you can take small steps to ensure that buying eyeglasses regularly doesn’t bankrupt you!
