Saving money on eyeglasses

Image by Tina P. via Flickr

Alert readers may have noticed that I mentioned my glasses cost $750. Well, as my aging eyes will attest, my near vision correction changes practically every year. That's a steep price--too steep for our budget.

So what did I do this year? I asked my optician (where I've been a customer for 15 plus years) if he could reuse the same (expensive) frames but put in new lenses. I confessed I just didn't have the money for a complete new pair. Plus I've been pretty happy with the rimless hyper-indexed glasses I've had for a few years now.

No problem.  Lots of people are in the same boat, he says. The glasses are now half the price.  And I get a little off for my insurance reimbursement. And I can use my pretax flexible medical spending account.

All good.

Do you have any tips for saving money on glasses or contacts?