You’ve undoubtedly heard about ordering your glasses online. In fact, a financial advisor with a nationally syndicated radio recommends one particular online eyeglass retailer and has purchased their product. It’s fine to order eyeglasses online but remember that unless the company is located in your own country you may be frustrated if you have a problem with your order. The advantage of such virtual stores is that you can often afford more attractive frames than you could with a brick and mortar store plus extras such as tinting or progressive bifocals. A pair of glasses with those attributes might cost $400 if you buy from a national chain but less than $50 from an online supplier.

You can some great affordable prescription glasses online, particularly if you shop at a time when a virtual store is trying to get rid of a few frame models. Often you can get frames that have gone out of style for just a few dollars or even at no charge! These are usually attractive frames but happen to be last year’s models. Most people won’t notice your frames are not the latest fashion since very few people read optometry trade fashion publication.

You can also find affordable prescription glasses in conventional shops if you decide exactly what you want and ignore pressure to purchase pricey treatments and accessories. Another way to save money on glasses is to purchase a pair at a thrift store and use those frames, if you like them. You can save a bundle by providing your own frames.

Buying a pair of clip-on sunglasses at your local dollar store is a lot less expensive than buying the photochromic coating that darkens as the light strengthens. This and other coatings can easily amount to half the cost of your glasses!

Finding affordable prescription glasses is merely a matter of being determined, informed, creative, and cautious.

Unlike the goggle-type safety glasses most people wore years ago, the newer prescription safety glasses are lightweight and comfortable. Safety goggles were often very uncomfortable to wear over prescription glasses, causing wearers to sweat under the plastic frames or pushing eyewear into the face because of improper fit. How much better it is now to have safety glasses that are your own prescription!

It is very important to have safety glasses, especially if you work around chemicals, welding, or any workplace where foreign objects can damage your eyes. You only have two eyes and they are irreplaceable. It is so easy to damage these delicate organs and relatively inexpensive to protect them.

Prescription safety glasses come with many options. You can choose frames that are plastic, metal, semi-rimless, Bluetooth equipped, or lighted for easier working conditions. You can get single vision or bifocals and can even order progressive bifocals. Bifocals increase the price $25-$50 but can make your work a lot easier and safer. You can order lenses of plastic, polycarbonate, or glass; you can have them tinted for about $45. In fact, you can have all the options of your everyday glasses built into prescription safety glasses such as scratch coating, mirror coating, anti fog coating, and anti reflective coating.

Many employers will buy prescription safety glasses for their employees. Reducing the possibility of ocular accidents and injuries is a powerful incentive and returns their investment through savings in insurance and medical treatment. Some people, however, have to buy their own and may be interested in over the glass safety glasses. These fit over your prescription glasses and can cost from $10 to less than $50. They are a viable solution if prescription safety glasses don’t quite fit into your budget right now.

If you’re not in dire financial straits and can afford glasses, you can take advantage of BOGO (buy one, get one) offers. Granted, the second pair may not come with the designer frames you prefer but a pair of free glasses will come in handy if your preferred pair is broken or needs repair. Late August and early September are usually when you find these bargains because retailers are trying to get rid of their old stock. Mid-January is also a good time for bargains because that’s the time when everyone is cutting expenses due to their holiday spending. If you’re shopping online you can find many stores that offer free shipping, free frames, and other incentives to get your business.

If you truly cannot afford glasses and need them, go to the American Optometric Association (AOA) website. Scroll down the main page and find the section entitled “Public Health”. This page will list resources in your area that help people in need get free glasses or deeply discounted eyewear. Many national chain optometry stores make room in their annual budgets so that they can help those in need of free glasses and also may offer free exams.

Since 1925 the Lions Club has been helping people who need but can’t afford vision care. Their website will give you information on how to get free glasses through various offers and opportunities in your community. For example, some major chain optometry stores offer free exams and glasses to those who financially qualify.

You can also apply to your local social services agency. Don’t take chances with your safety or your vision because of pride. There are a lot of people these days that need help, people who have paid taxes for years and never asked for anything in return. If you are one of these people, consider free glasses a small benefit of all the help you have given over the years.

There are many reasons why frames are so expensive. Most people don’t know that the frames and the extras like tinting is where optical companies realize most of their profits. Customers that opt for cheap glasses frames lower the profit margin considerably. That’s why most national chains put so much advertising money in making the public think that designer frames will make them more attractive!

While it’s true that some frames are more attractive than others, cheap glasses frames can look just as nice as designer frames that cost ten times as much. There are many frames that are so similar to designer frames that the only difference is the lack of the designer’s name in a prominent place. You can find frames nearly identical to costly designer frames that look just as nice. Did you know that those pricey frames are not actually created by name brand designers but by the manufacturers that license that designer’s name? The licensing fees are figured into the price of the frames and may be as much as ¾ their total price!

A good place to find cheap glasses frames is online but you’ll probably have to visit an optometrist to have them adjusted so they are comfortable. Another great resource is your warehouse club. If you don’t have a membership, the money you save on your glasses will make it well worth purchasing. You’ll find that their inventory is just as extensive as the national chain stores but the prices are a fraction what you’d pay elsewhere.

When you’re looking for cheap glasses frames, consider last year’s models. They are often heavily discounted in order to make room for new stock and you can save up to 75% on many frames. And while you want to save money, beware of the cheapest frames that are made overseas; these frames are often made of inferior materials and meant for use in free second pairs during promotions. If you shop around, stick to quality construction, and don’t insist on the latest designer fashions you can find a wide variety of cheap glasses frames that will look great on your face!