Preparing for school, I went through my checklist: gather the school supplies – check, plan haircuts – check, purchase uniforms – check, and schedule eye exams – check.

After having our eyes examined last year, our doctor warned us that our son was on the brink of needing glasses, so I scheduled our exams prior to the start of school.

Prepared with toys and activities, our entire family camped out at the doctor’s office one Saturday morning. Four out of the five of us received vision exams with three of us needing new prescriptions.

Choosing to research our options for glasses, we left the doctor’s office with dilated eyes, funky sunglasses, and our prescriptions.

Choosing Kids’ Glasses

At home, I located a list of our in-network providers. After a few phone calls, I decided to just visit the providers in person. One weekday evening, our family headed out glasses shopping. The salesperson at our first stop was less than helpful spouting off lots of numbers and recommending lots of options at additional charges.

Having a basic understanding of our plan, I was getting confused with the numbers, and the answers to my questions were less than helpful. So, we left and stopped by J. C. Penney Optical where we found someone willing to spend time going over the options with us.

With our vision insurance plan, the price for 2 pairs of glasses for my son came to $58. Seeing the advertisement for the $25 kids’ glasses through September 7, 2013, I asked our kind representative to check the price of the promotion. In doing so, the price for the same 2 pairs of glasses with the same options came to $53.

Saving $5 and our insurance benefits, we chose to go with the $25 kids’ glasses promotion rather than our vision insurance benefits as the two cannot be combined at the store.

This way, should our son’s prescription change by the end of the year, we can still purchase new glasses using the insurance benefits. If he doesn’t need those insurance benefits, then I can submit one of his pairs for a partial reimbursement.

$25 Kids’ Glasses

Photograph Credit: JCP Optical

The $25 Kids’ Glasses promotion at JCP Optical ends on September 7, 2013. This offer includes any kids’ frame up to $120, FREE impact and scratch-resistant polycarbonate lenses, FREE UV protection and FREE eyeglass protection plan for any school-aged child 16 and under.

The amazing part of this deal for me was realizing that getting a second pair of glasses for $25 was less expensive than replacing the first pair under the FREE eyeglass protection plan for $40.

The protection plan comes FREE with the deal. But if my son cracks his glasses where the frame needs replacement, the cost under the protection plan is $40.

By having two pairs, we have an automatic backup should one pair break during the year.

In stretching our dollars, our family had our annual eye exams, researched our in-network options, asked the representatives questions, and compared promotions with our insurance benefits. The result was purchasing two pairs of glasses for our son. Paul and I still need to place our orders, but our options are a bit more complicated.

Thankful for promotions like JCP Optical’s $25 kids’ glasses, we saved $5 by choosing the promotion over our insurance benefits. Taking a few minutes to check both options ended up being using time wisely as we snagged the best deal for our son’s glasses. Happy stretching your dollars!

Question: Do you get an annual eye exam, or do you wait until you have vision problems?