News 12 at 6, October 22, 2008

HEPHZIBAH---It's no secret, times are tight. But some things just have to be purchased, like eye glasses.

And those can be a major budget buster if you're planning on buying them. But there are some places you can go to get your glasses and see some major savings.

Buying glasses in a traditional frame shop can be really expensive, sometimes costing hundreds of dollars. But the internet has a few places you can go to cut your eyewear costs by more than half.

Evelyn Bell makes no bones about it, she likes her new dining room.

"I painted, put in new flooring." she said.

But would you believe she couldn't have done it financially without...her glasses.

"The savings helped a lot." she said.

Yes, what Evelyn saved on her new glasses helped pay for a good portion of her renovation.

"I had lost mine and I couldn't wait until February to get new glasses." she said.

Evelyn's worn glasses for 20-years now. She's experienced in the expense of eyewear.

"I paid $279 last year." she said.

And that kind of money just wasn't in the budget this year. So she dug around on the internet and found a website called www.eyebuydirect.com

"I ended up paying $100." she said excitedly.

That's a savings of nearly $200. Evelyn says it's as easy as can be. "You just input your prescription, select your frames, some of which are as low as $7.95, and you get your glasses delivered right to your door."

You can even upload your picture to see what you'd look like in those frames.

There are other similar websites like www.zennioptical.com, www.optical4less.com, and www.specsonthenet.com. It's a new way of doing eyeglass business. The general thinking is these companies can cut out the middle man and can cut you a good price on your eyeglasses.

Something that worked for Evelyn and her remodeling budget.

Make sure, before you buy, that you've read over the return policy. Buying glasses sight unseen can make you a bit nervous, so just make sure you can return them if they don't fit, you don't like the color or anything else.