Nothing like waiting until the last minute to take care of this item on my 101 in 1001 list! I am down to my last disposable contact for my right eye and realized I should probably hurry up and order more ASAP.
I actually talked to Mike about getting Lasik surgery, but he's taking a while to make a decision, so I decided to at least order one box of contacts for my right eye, since that's what I need right now.
Being that we no longer have vision insurance, I knew whatever I paid for contacts would be 100% out of pocket. I did some research and found the prices to be pretty comparable. I checked 1-800-CONTACTS (which had free shipping over $50), CLE Contacts (free shipping over $100 with progressively higher discounts for ordering with them repeatedly) and Lens World (free shipping over $99).
Mike suggested I also check Costco, and sure enough, they were significantly cheaper. However, they required a current eye prescription, which would have required me to get a $75 eye exam. $75 at Costco was cheaper than $125 at my regular eye doctor, but the $75 added into the price of the contacts bumped the total price to $9 more than the highest online site. (for a year's worth of contacts)
I ended up going with CLE Contacts because my mom has had a positive experience with them for the past few years. Personal recommendations never hurt!
They asked me the name and phone number of my eye doctor, and even though my last exam was in October of 2008, I just received the email confirmation that my contacts are on their way, so apparently they don't care that my prescription is expired.
Next time I'll probably go ahead and get an eye exam at Costco to make sure my eyesight is the same, but for now, I'm fine using an old prescription. Contacts are expensive enough without vision insurance...I don't need to add on an eye exam for them to say, "Yup - everything's the same!"
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
#63 - Research buying contacts online to save money
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6 comments:
I can tell you that getting laser surgery on my eyes was one of the best things I ever did. We used our flexible spending account, so it was pre-tax and we didn't even notice the deduction from my paycheck. After more than 20 years of wearing glasses, having clear vision without the inconvenience and discomfort of glasses has been absolutely priceless. I would do it again in a heartbeat!
This is totally off subject except for the fact that it has to do with saving money, lol. Just wondering if you do any of the frequent shopper reward thingy's at Walgreens or CVS. I've been meaning to try one or both of them but I honestly don't know much about either, especially if they'd be worth it. I'm thinking with 2 little girls it would be good to figure out how to lessen the expense of health/beauty products!
What Chandy said!! If you're eligible for Lasik now, there's no guarantee your eyes will still be eligible in the future. I say to make it a priority and GO FOR IT!! Claudia's prescription had her listed as legally blind from the time she was a teenager, and she was able to get Lasik and sees better than 20/20, it's truly a miracle of science. Why wait?!?!?
Also, Target price matches Costco prices, which in my investigating, Costco is consistently the cheapest
I use www.shipmycontacts.com. My eye doctor recommended it. He said it was the cheapest ones online and from my research I agree. They're quick to check the script and ship them!
I would SOOOOOOO love to get Lasik. Our insurance would probably pay for a lot of it, but what we'd have to pay is just too much for us right now. I wonder if it helps far-sightedness, too? I have just noticed the past few months I've had to do the trombone effect lately when I've worn my contacts. When I wear my glasses I just take my glasses off and I read fine.
That was kind of rabbit chasing, wasn't it? : )
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