Seeing Money Everywhere

Posted 10/31/08

In my continuing search for ways to save money in the down turning economy I've started to look inward at the household expenditures that we make. After looking at all the external bills that I could possibly shrink, and looking at the dining out food bill, I've managed to cut down on expenditures by nearly $200 a month. That is a huge savings of course, but I want to really tighten the belt and make some serious headway in the next few months.

One of the things I've started to look at is eyeglasses. Lots of people wear them, and they are one of the most expensive items you can purchase depending on your insurance coverage. If you are like me and your employer does not cover vision on the insurance plan there are several ways you can make up the difference and still save some money.

After you've gone through and cut down the savings on dining out expenses, and you've begun to use grocery coupons, you should have enough money left over each month to put away in a tax free medical deduction account that many employers offer (especially if they only offer a base level coverage package). These medical accounts allow you up to a certain amount of money to be put into them for medical/visual bills and the money is tax free. If you take the amount of money you're saving and put it into this account you should by the end of the year have a nice sizable chunk of change to put towards your vision coverage.

Most glasses will run between $300 and $600 per pair. If you've got a family and have multiple eyeglasses wearers thats a lot of money. One of the best things about the internet is the ability to shop around for the best prices. In this particular case, you can find some seriously big discounts on prescription eyeglasses. So before you go and buy that $600 pair of eyeglasses from your doctors office, be sure to shop around and find the best price out there.