Seeing Clearly

This time of the year I usually get a reminder in the mail to go get my eyes checked out. This year I made the appointment just before using my last pair of contacts -because I wanted to delay spending the money as long as possible. After the doctor completed my exam, they asked me about ordering contacts. I told them, I would call them back. Later that week, I did just that after
I checked the balance on my flexible spending account. I asked them exactly how much would be covered by Insurance and then asked them the price of the contacts that I usually wear: $43 per box.
Then I went online and checked my favorite website to see if there were any contact lens companies affliliated with them: http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=lDgHmLL72rIoUkPX%2FmFpww%3D%3D
Sure enough, lensmart is listed with a 7% rebate. I checked the prices for the contacts on lensmart and they have the same lenses for $37.99 per box. That is $40 saved right there! However in order for this to be profitable, I have to also compare taxes and shipping. Lensmart is offering free shipping on all orders over $99. Plus as a first time customer, I can save an extra 20% and $20 for the bulk discount! That brings my price down to about $30 per box.
They accept flexible spending accounts so I will still be able to use that. In the end I spent less than $30 per box on contacts and received over $16 from ebates on top of it all!

If you have vision insurance then it would be worth it to let insurance pick up the tab, but if paying out of pocket, I would definitely recommend doing some research yourself and saving some money on your contact lenses.