Today’s Guest Post comes from reader Ken B. who wrote in to tell me how much he loved the blog as it has shown him a few ways to save money. He set up an ING account on my advice and is currently helping out other people to save money with the things that he learns here.

Ken offers the following tips on saving money on glasses for those of you who are not able to get LASIK for whatever reason so read up!!

Did you know that over 120 million people in America wear glasses? Did you also know that a glasses frame that costs less than $25 to make in Italy can retail for at least $150 at an optical shop in the United States?

Despite this markup, people still purchase eyewear at brick and mortar stores.

As the New York Times wrote “If ever there was a market ripe for the intervention of the Internet, which allowed consumers to find discounts on best-selling novels, digital cameras or Hawaiian vacations, eyeglasses would be it.”
I will not lie; until one year ago I also used to purchase glasses at brick and mortar stores.
Ever since I was 10 years old, I have had to wear glasses. Over the years, as my prescription got worse and my lenses grew thicker, a significant amount of money was invested in purchasing glasses. A new pair of eyeglasses could easily cost me $400 or more each year. Worst yet, I had been looking for ways to cut back on my expenses.

One night I thought about how I buy so many items online and I asked myself, why hadn’t I looked at purchasing glasses online? That’s when I found out that I could have bought the exact same pair of eyeglasses online I had just purchased for less than half the price.

Reading an article in the New York Times, I soon found that just about every single brand name sold at every single eyeglass center was available online – and always at a significant savings.
All that I needed to order online was a current prescription from a licensed optometrist or ophthalmologist along with my Pupil Distance (PD) measurement. If you don’t happen to have a copy of your prescription, no problem – you can ask your eye doctor to fax or mail it to you.

If you are honestly too intimidated to call your doctor and ask for your prescription, some of the companies will do it for you.

So there you go. Every year I have saved hundreds of dollars, and so could you. If you are looking for ways to save money, your eyewear is a great place to start. Here are some good resources for places to go if you want to take the next steps in saving money.

1. www.Eyeglasses.com: Website that sells glasses; received an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau (BBB)

2. www.eyebuydirect.com: Popular website for glasses

3.  New York Times article about purchasing glasses online

4.  Article from Slate.com about purchasing glasses online

Ken is currently a student but he is keen on saving money and is also thinking of starting a blog of his own sometime in the future. Any advice for Ken would be greatly appreciated.