We're all a little bit strapped for cash these days, so we decided to cobble together a new column, “Pesos in Your Pocket.” (We love alliteration.)
In this space, readers, you can share your own money-saving tips with others. Together, we'll get out of this financial rut and start spending money like there's no tomorrow, because apparently that's how you save the economy. Three cheers for fiscal irresponsibility!
But for now, we're being responsible, so here's a tip on purchasing eyeglasses from Noelle Kjellman, editorial assistant at the Monitor and expert penny-pincher.
The economy is a mess. That we all know. However, my little world of finances has always been tight! Credit card payments, car payments, rent, food, gas, etc. And I'm the “accountant” in my little family. My husband doesn't deal with the finances, so it is all up to me to painstakingly agonize every day over how much money we have and what bills we have to pay. So, when Insider editor Katie Henry told me that there was such a thing as buying prescription eyeglasses online, I was intrigued. Anything to save a buck!
I needed an eye appointment anyway, and I'd had the same pair of glasses for many years. Once my eye checkup was done, they handed me a prescription card with little numbers all over it. Armed with this knowledge, I checked out zennioptical.com, one of the sites Katie had seen in an article about buying eyeglasses online.
There are tons of pairs to choose from, but I just clicked on one to see what exactly I'd need to fill out for information.
In a drop-down menu asking for the prescription numbers, the choices all had decimal points. My eye doctor did not put decimals in the numbers on the card he gave me. I thought I was doomed from the start and that my eyes were so bad I couldn't get glasses online. It turns out that this is just doctor shorthand – the prescription of “375” was actually 3.75.
After that discovery, I noticed another input for my “pupillary” distance. I was able to go to Wal-Mart for free and get that elusive number. So, with my decimal point-less prescription number and pupillary distance fully established, I filled in the necessary information of the style I liked and hoped for the best.
Now, I may be cheap, but I was also a bit skeptical. We're talking about my eyes here! And the website only offers a refund of half of the purchase price returns. I was gambling, and I'm not a gambling girl.
But, my inner cheapskate overcame my fear of gambling, and I went for it. I even ordered a pair of snazzy prescription sunglasses (which I have never owned) with blue-tinted lenses. For those of you non-eyeglasses wearers, prescription eyeglasses can cost hundreds of dollars. My total at Zenni for two pairs of complete eyeglasses was around $40.
Three weeks to the day later, the eyeglasses arrived in my mailbox. It took me a while to get used to the smaller frames, but the prescription seemed right. I wasn't stumbling around or squinting. The only thing I had to do once I got my new specs was take them to be adjusted behind the ear a bit. That is normal for any new eyeglass purchase. I went to Wal-Mart again for this free service.
I've had my glasses now for more than a month. I've been getting many compliments on the style (I mean, c'mon people, they have rhinestones!), and I am truly happy (and amazed) at my first (and certainly not last) pair of inexpensive prescription eyeglasses.
Ah, the Internet. You gotta love it!
