Hi folks,

I have an eye doctor appointment Wednesday, and I know I will need a new prescription. I don't want to pay $375.00 again for glasses!

You see, I've only had glasses now for about a year and a half. Everything was getting slightly blurry, so when I went in to get tested, I was told I needed TRI focals! Yes, pretty challenging for my first pair of specs ever. Anyway, I got the precision lenses as they're called, adjusted to them, and all was well until the last month or so when I realized my eyes have gotten worse.

Since I am a novice at this glasses thing, what are my options? Can I just go in to the eye doc, get the script, and tell her I prefer to save $ and have it filled at say, WalMart? I'm not sure how it works. What I do know is that I almost fell over last time when told my bill was 375.00!!! I have insurance, so that totally surprised me.

Also, when do you know if it's time to switch to contacts?

Any ideas/advice/suggestions are welcomed in advance! Thanks!

You can buy your glasses anywhere you want. So yes you can tell the doc that you just want the prescription.

You can buy your glasses at Walmart, Costco, etc wherever it is cheapest for you. You can even order them online.

I buy all of my glasses online. Enter your prescription, pick a frame (most have money back guarantees if you don't like the frame you pick, and they let you print out samples so you can see approx sizing, etc), and send to you. I like www.39dollarglasses.com and have never had anything but good experiences. And yes, the 39 dollars is frames and lenses...but not taxes and shipping.

Contact lenses is a pretty personal decision for everyone. You should talk to your eye doctor about it. And keep in mind that contacts are often more expensive than glasses - by the time you buy the contacts, the solution, and the followup visits.

But for contacts or glasses, you should ask for a copy of your prescription anyway - no matter where you buy them. Taht way if anything happens to your glasses or contacts, you can have the script filled anywhere. I always take a copy with me when I travel, just in case.

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definately go whereever you want for glasses. Just get a script from your doctor, they can't deny you a script

as for contact lenses...i'm not sure, talk to your dr..finding contacts for your someone that needs trifocals, may not work well for contacts. And if they do work they usually are expensive. I have an astigmatism in both eyes and i have to use special contacts that are twice the price of normal contacts.

Yup. I have dry eyes, so I have to wear the extremely thin, wet contacts that can be replaced every two weeks. I pay about $300 every six months for my lenses. Plus, of course, the solution to clean them with, which is about $6 a bottle 1 a month or so.

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Wow, trifocals are quite an adjustment when starting out.

Contacts are a re-occurring expense. I would've recommended asking your dr about gas permeable - sometimes they can slow worsening eye sight, but I'm not sure about that because you need trifocals. I don't know how that might work.

I was a optician for a little while and we would get frames and just send them out to have the lenses replaced. You might be able to do that if you dont want to give up your frames.

My contacts are expensive, too. I think this may be the last year I buy them. My glasses aren't cheap either. Clark Howard recommends Zinni Optical. I'm not sure if they would have your glasses. http://zennioptical.com/cart/home.php

I'm going to look at the place Manda recommends, too.

Check your insurance. Some policies only replace the lenses yearly and the frames every 2 years. Reusing the frames will save you some money.

I have had my prescription filled at WalMart and Sears and they are just as good as the higher priced ones.

Definitely check your insurance. There may be special allowances for when a prescription has changed sooner than the usual replacement time.

Is there an optometry school near you? I found that they can be cheaper and do a nice job. I have also gotten glasses at Wal-mart and been very pleased with them!

Also - have you considered multi-focal lenses (progressive)? They take a bit of getting used to, but once you do - they are MUCH nicer than tri focals for focusing in on those "odd" distances.

Wow, I didn't realize they were so expensive!

And, yeah, with tri-focals, I may not be a candidate anyway.

Counting, yes, I have "progressive" lenses! That's what I meant... not sure where I came up with "precision." They still took me a good 3-4 months to really get used to them.

I don't know how to quote and reply to everyone in one post... but to all of you, THANK YOU for your responses! Very helpful!

I will definitely be checking out those websites - at $39.00, I may get 2 pairs!!

I am pretty steamed that on my first (and only) visit to the eye doctor (optometrist or optomologist?), NO options were presented to me AT ALL. I was given my exam, the dr. discussed my need for tri-focals and encouraged me to go with the progressive lenses (which I agreed to), and I was then ushered to the "frame girl" who showed a selection of frames and fitted me for the ones I liked. My options were somewhat limited because with progressive lenses, the frame needs to be big enough to accommodate them.

Once finished there, I was ushered to the checkout, told my bill was $375, of which I had to pay half then and half when I picked them up in a week.

I understand they are a business, but I now feel like a big sucker who just went through the assembly line, didn't ask questions, and got stuck with a HUGE bill (IMO!).

Thanks for educating me girls, and I can't wait to check the sites!