photo credit: net_efekt

Some visitors have found my previous post on buying eyeglasses online because they were searching for help in figuring out why they could not see with the glasses that they had purchased online or they wanted help with measuring their PD.  In this post I will list some of the reasons why your vision might not be best with your new glasses and help you troubleshoot.  I also have included some links at the end of this post that will help you measure your PD accurately.

Before you read further … it is always a good idea to figure out if your vision is poor with one or both eyes.  To check this, alternately cover each eye and compare the vision with each eye while looking at distance or near – where ever you may be having a problem.

Prescription is Not Correct

Consider this a possibility if the new pair of glasses is your first pair with the new prescription.  If there was an error in determining your prescription or when writing it down, it is more likely that one eye is wrong than both eyes.  If you suspect that the prescription is wrong, you will have to return to the eye doctor that provided you with the new prescription or find a new doctor.

Glasses Not Made Correctly

Eyeglasses sold in the United States have to be prepared to documented accuracy standards.  Of course, people make mistakes when fabricating glasses that are not caught during the inspection process or purposely release the glasses thinking that the error is either not significant or will not be noticed by the patient.  It is more likely that the error will be made with one lens rather than both lenses.  One way to check this error is to find an optician or eye doctor’s office with a dispensary and ask them to verify the glasses against the prescription.  I would suggest that you return to the doctor’s office that provided you with the prescription – they might not like that you did not buy your glasses from them but they will still want you as a patient.

Distance PD is Not Correct

The PD is the measurement that specifies the point in the lens that you will be looking through when looking straight ahead.  Since the PD is not routinely provided with your prescription, many patients will have to figure out how to measure their own PD in order to complete the prescription (see links below).  I reviewed the difficulty in getting this correct in my earlier post linked above.   Please note that this is an issue more likely to effect patients with higher prescriptions or when ordering no-line bifocals.  To summarize, errors can occur when measuring your PD, in fabrication or when the PD for each eye is not identical and the online form assumes that the PD for each eye is equal.

Here is one way for you to check to see if the PD is incorrect.  Cover one eye and look a little bit to the left and then right and see if your vision improves.  If it does, this may mean the prescription is correct but the PD is wrong for one or both eyes.  If your vision does not improve, either re-measure your PD and compare against the values that you provided when ordering the glasses or have the PD of your glasses verified.

Near PD is Not Correct

The near PD is used when ordering reading glasses.  If you have ordered reading glasses and you have a high prescription and you have provided your distance PD, then you will not be looking through the optimal point of the lenses.  On average the near PD is 1.5 mm less than the distance PD for each eye or 3 mm for both eyes (binocular).  Most bifocal eyeglass orders do not require a near PD.

Fitting Height is Wrong

This only applies if you have purchased bifocals.  It is somewhat easy to check and see if the fitting height is incorrect – simply move your head up and down and see if your vision improves.  If your vision improves when tilting your head down, the fitting height is too high (number too big).  If your vision improves when you tilt your head back, then the fitting height is too low (number too small).

PD Measurement Links

Although most of the online eyeglass retailers provide assistance in measuring your PD, not all provide a method that is very accurate.  Below is a link for printing your own millimeter ruler and two links to help your friend measure your PD (I don’t recommend trying to measure your own PD).  I suggest that you follow the directions in both links and compare the results.

• printable millimeter ruler
• good description for having friend measure PD
• near PD measurement method – add 3 mm for distance PD

I have reviewed some of the more common reasons  for having trouble with new eyeglasses – there are others.  If you have questions or want advice, please post a comment and I will reply as soon as possible.

photo credit: oskay

How often have you heard someone tell you how much he or she paid for their prescription glasses? How often have you told someone how much you paid?  These statements never seem to suggest that the glasses were cheaper than expected.  In response to the high cost of glasses, buying glasses online is becoming commonplace, with price being the primary driver for the increasing success of this option.

I am not going to tell you to or not to buy your glasses online, but I am going to provide you with some points to consider before hitting the submit button on your next online eyeglass order.  So, caveat emptor (buyer beware).

Eyeglasses require a prescription. This prescription will include measurements that will allow each eye of the patient to see as clear as possible at distance or near or for both distance and near.   Some patients may require other specialized features that are prescribed to aid the eyes in working together (you will need to include these values in your online order).  Prescriptions typically include an expiration date, a date specified either by state regulations and/or the prescribing doctor.   This is it – there is rarely inclusion of other information that is necessary to fabricate the pair of glasses.  This additional information is typically gathered by the optician when eyeglasses are being ordered.  So, if you are going to order glasses online, you should know more about this ‘additional information’.

Pupillary distance (pd): The pd is the distance between your eyes and is used to place the optical center of the lenses in front of your pupils.   Here are four points about this value to consider when ordering glasses online:

1. The measurement for the pd may be done simply with a ruler or a device called a pupilometer.   If you have your pd from your optician or eye doctor, you can use these values.  But if you have to measure the pd at home, you will need a ruler marked in millimeters.  The process to measure pd requires that the ‘patient’ be effectively looking at distance.  This is done by measuring each eye separately and not by simply having the ‘patient’ look  at the person taking the measurement and recording a single value.  This would be a near measurement and will not account for differences between the right and left eyes.  If the measurement taken is of the near pd, the distance pd will be underestimated by up to 3 mm.  (A common way determine where to place the center of the lenses is to properly mark the location of the pupils relative to a pair of eyeglass lenses and then measure these marks for the right and left eye.) 
2. PDs are typically measured for each eye, as the face is often asymmetric, with the difference between the eyes as much as 4 millimeters (mm).  Since the pd can be different for each eye, you should question how accurate your glasses will be if the online form only has space for a single value and you know that the pd for your right eye is different than the left eye.  If you can only enter a single value, this means that your glasses will be fabricated as if the pd for each eye is the same.
3. If the pd used to fabricate your eyeglases is incorrect – it doesn’t match your actual measurement – then prism is induced.  This induced prism has the effect of making your eyes work harder, especially if your eyes already struggle to work together.  The amount of prism induced is a direct function of  the strength of your prescription and the amount that the pd is incorrect.  If you have a high prescription, it is especially important that the pd is correct.
4. PD is especially important when ordering no-line bifocals (also called progressive addition lenses), since the channel that connects the distance vision zone to the near vision zone in these lenses is narrow.  If the pd used to prepare the glasses is incorrect for one or both eyes, you will not be looking through the clearest portions of the lens, resulting in less than optimal vision or even unacceptable, blurry vision.

Fitting height. Fitting height is the measurement of the distance from the bottom of the lens to either the middle of the pupil for no line bifocals or, for bifocals with lines, to another location, such as the lower lid margin.  Why is this measurement important?  If this measurement is incorrect, you will not be able to comfortably access the portion of the lens that you need to use for distance, intermediate or near.  You will have to compensate by lifting your head up or down to a less than optimal position to see well.  Here are a couple of points to consider when placing your online order for bifocal glasses.

1. The fitting height is dependent on the frame and the way that the frame fits on the face.  It is not a value that is dependent only on the frame.  If the online ordering form does not ask for the fitting height of the glasses, then the glasses will be fabricated based on an average value for fitting height for the specific frame.  Take a look at a few faces and see how different just one variable that effects fitting height – nose bridge width – differs among people.  If the fitting height is too high, you will have to drop your head to see clearly.  If the fitting height is too low, you will have to tip your head back to see clearly and may even run out of lens to see clearly at near.  The accuracy in preparing the correct fitting height is more important for glasses that do not have nose pads, since the only way to adjust the fit of these glasses is to wear the glasses lower or higher on your nose.  Frames with nosepads have more room for adjustment, increasing the chance that errors in fitting height can be compensated for without compromising the way that the frames were intended to fit on your face .
2. Let’s suppose that you possess the frame that you will be ordering online or have a reasonable facsimile.  For no-line bifocals, the fitting height is measured from the bottom of the lens to the pupil center.  This is not a measurement that you will likely get correct without some training, as the accuracy of the measurement is very dependent on head position during the measurement and proper identification of the bottom of the lens.

There are other issues to consider when ordering glasses online – including prescription verification and lens and coating options – I will discuss these in a future post.

Ordering a pair of glasses is typically done following an eye exam at the doctor’s office or a nearby retail location.  I suspect that the frequency of eye exams is less for people who have switched to ordering eyeglasses online (the online sites that I visited did not require proof of a current eyeglass prescription).  The recommended frequency is generally every two years, with an eye exam recommended more often with increasing age and for children, in the presence of underlying health concerns or if the person is at a greater risk of eye disease.  Since you may be saving money by buying your eyeglasses online, you ought to consider taking these savings and apply them to regular exams.

Here is what I discovered in researching this post – I was now saving a lot more than 5% because the supplier that I selected had not increased their rate since I had signed up, while CL&P had increased their rates.  For this past month we used 1771 KWH at a rate of $0.1048 per KWH; CL&P’s rate for this same period: $0.12217 per KWH, a rate that is more than 16% higher than what we are paying.  Our savings for the year will now be about $275 dollars. 

Please note that not all states participate in a program similar to the state of Connecticut.  It may also be that the savings in the participating states will be less than what we are experiencing.  But, if you live in one of the states listed below (or have friends or relatives living in one of these states), it certainly seems that the potential savings are worth a few minutes of research or a phone call.  This US government website indicates that as of January 2009, the states listed allow its residents to choose among different electricity suppliers.  I have included websites that appears to offer good starting points to learn more about the program in each state.  Or, next time you receive an electric bill, call the company and ask for information about an electric supplier choice program in your state.

• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Illinois
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey Gas supplier choice also? Unclear if program only for commercial accounts
• New York
• Ohio Program still available?
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island: Contact your supplier
• Texas

There are independent web sites that serve as a gateway to finding suppliers and getting rate quotes.  But, a quick look found that these sites’ offerings were incomplete.  This suggests that these sites are for profit businesses that will only provide information about suppliers that they have an affiliate relationship with.  This means that you may not be informed about the lowest cost suppliers.

The energy supplier choice options arose out of state electricity deregulation that started in the 90′s.  The intent of utility deregulation is to encourage competition that will result in lower costs to consumers.  Deregulation was effective with telephone services, but has not been entirely successful with electricity (think Enron or the yearly increase in your electric bill).

It seems likely that these alternative electricity suppliers will continue to offer lower rates than the major utility companies.  Enrollment in these alternative supplier programs has not been as successful as the savings seem to warrant (I read a report that only 2000 homes had signed up in Rhode Island).  Since the primary incentive to switch is to save money, it is likely that they will continue to aggressively price their rates.  But, it will be worth conducting a regular rate check to make sure that the supplier you have selected continues to offer the lowest rate.  You may also want to note the term of the current rate; for example is the rate that you signed up for guaranteed for the remainder of the calendar year?

Green energy plug …

Please note that your state may also offer a clean or renewable energy program that allows you to help support alternative sources of energy such as wind and solar.  It is likely that you will pay a surcharge (in Connecticut you will), but you will be supporting the environment and energy independence. You can find out more here.

Update: This post has been included in the Festival of Frugality #170 – Frugal Living is Timeless.   See more posts in this Festival at MoneyNing.

Drastic times such as these call for drastic measures.  In this post, I’m going to present to you one such measure.  In doing so, you are going to learn about one of the most important things you can do during these hard financial times.

The action I’m referring to is to become your own handyman.

We’ve all heard the horror stories.  Contractors are notorious for over-charging consumers on basic home maintenance tasks.  The problem, in most cases, is that we are ignorant to what they are doing.  When you are your own handyman, however, all these worries go out the window.  You are empowered to do the job yourself, and nobody is going to rip you off.

I’ll give you an example.  Earlier this week, I bought and installed a new garbage disposal.  I admit that it was a little intimidating at first; I pictured myself working for several days just to figure out how the thing worked.

Fortunately, the Internet is home to countless DIY articles and step-by-step guides that teach you how to do this sort of thing all by yourself.  With the help of these guides and my owner’s manual, do you know how long it actually took me to complete the job?  About 2 hours… that’s it.

I could have saved myself two hours of work and paid a plumber $300 to install the garbage disposal.  Hell, I could probably have even paid a neighbor to do it for $50 or so.  Personally, I’d rather just spend the two hours installing it for FREE and knowing that the job was done the right way.

Besides, I’ve now learned a new skill.  That will come in handy when I’m short on cash and a friend of a friend needs a garbage disposal installed.

Total cost for a new garbage disposal and a new marketable skill?  2 hours and about $80 shipped.

Keep a piggy bank.

That’s right… just like you did when you were a kid and had no financial worries in the world. Simply find a container that is lying around the house, unused, and put it to use. I use a sugar jar (which hasn’t actually contained any sugar for probably about 2 years) to collect my spare change.

Many people will scoff at this idea, believing that you can’t actually save any real money using this method. Well, guess what? I save at least $10 per month this way. That’s $120 per year for doing NOTHING; certainly nothing to laugh at.

How do I collect so much change per month? It’s easy. Every two weeks (after my paycheck is deposited), I withdraw about $150 to use for entertainment, according to my budget.  This $150 is subsequently used for all my entertainment needs during the following two weeks.

And here’s the secret: anytime I receive spare change for an expenditure, I deposit that change directly to my piggy bank.

I don’t spend my time searching for spare change at the drive-through window, so that I may give it to the cashier in order to receive a whole dollar amount.  Why would I do that, when I can trick myself into saving money, by receiving a handful of change instead?

Saving your spare change is an excellent psychological trick to help yourself “save money“, even when you may not be the “saving money” type.  Try it out.  Your mileage may vary, but I believe you will be surprised at the results.

Let me know your thoughts on this method in the comments.  Thanks for reading!

1. Negotiate.  It’s possible to haggle for a lower gym membership fee.   Many gyms are willing to negotiate their prices or the length of their contracts, if you just ask.  Note: If you are already under contract, you may not have any leverage to negotiate; this works best for prospective members.  There is an excellent resource here that you can use as a guideline for negotiating to save on your gym expenses.
2. If you were unsuccessful in negotiating a lower price, try looking for a cheaper gym. If you don’t need a racquetball or basketball court, a rock wall, pool, or running track, you can probably opt to join one of the smaller gyms around town. These gyms usually offer a complete set of weight-training and cardio equipment, without the bells and whistles, for a much more reasonable price than the larger gyms.
3. Don’t waste money on protein shakes in the gym’s cafe. These are usually much too expensive. Instead, save money on gym expenses by making your own protein shakes at home. It’s easy, tasty, and about half the cost.

As you can see, there are several ways in which you can save money on gym expenses, without terminating your gym membership.  Give careful consideration to these tips before you risk compromising your health to save a buck.

1. To save space. Okay, this one is obvious.  The more crap you clean out of your closet, the more room you’ll have for other stuff.  You’ll have room for new clothes (maybe some that you actually like), new sports equipment, new books, or maybe just more junk that you just can’t let yourself get rid of yet (like that old X-Box that you never play anymore).  Or, better yet, maybe you just want some extra empty space.  After all, clutter contributes to higher stress levels, and nobody likes stress.
2. To save time. Let me ask you a question.  How long does it take you to get ready in the morning?  Half an hour?  An hour?  Two?  Now, how much of that time is spent picking out a suitable outfit to wear?  If you’re female, this probably takes quite a while (no offense, girls); but even guys can spend a significant chunk of their morning picking out clothes to wear.  My argument is that, by removing old, “obsolete” clothes from your closet, you’ll be able to pick out a suitable outfit much more quickly.  Hey, it worked for me.  Go see for yourself.
3. To save MONEY.  “How,” you may ask, “will this save me money?”  Maybe a little anecdotal evidence will suffice in answering this question.  Today, as I alluded to previously, I removed all of my old, outdated, unwanted clothes from my closet.  I ended up with two garbage bags full!  I then proceeded to transport said garbage bags down to my local used clothing store, where the cashiers sifted through my bags and figured out what pieces they wanted to buy from me.  A half hour later, they called me to the register to quote me a price for the clothes they had picked out… $57.75!  For less than an hour of my time, that wasn’t bad at all.  And let’s not forget about the opportunity cost of leaving these clothes in my closet for months or even years, when they could have returned almost $60 at any time.  For example, if I would have sold the clothes a year ago, I could have invested the money and earned about $3 interest in that time.  It doesn’t sound like much, but compound interest can turn a little bit of money into a lot of money really quickly.

Have you been able to earn a significant chunk of cash from something that was just taking up space in your closet?  I’d love to hear about it in the comments!  Thanks for reading!

Matt’s Goji-Banana Peanut Butter Protein Shake

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup organic milk ($4 per half gallon / 16 servings = $0.25)
• 1 organic banana – optionally frozen ($1 per pound / 3 bananas per pound = $0.33)
• 2 tbsp organic peanut butter ($4 per jar / 16 servings = $0.25)
• 1/8 cup Navitas Naturals Organic Goji Berries Himalayan Superfruit, 16-Ounce Pouch ($16.50 per package / 16 servings = $1.03)
• 1 scoop Body Fortress Whey Protein Powder – Chocolate (2 lb.) ($13 per container / 28 servings = $0.46)
• 5-8 ice cubes (pretty much free)

Directions:

1. Blend milk, peanut butter, goji berries, banana, and protein powder until uniformly mixed.
2. Insert ice cubes (about 5 ice cubes if using a frozen banana, or 8 otherwise) and blend using the “ice crush” function of your blender, until smooth.
3. Pour and enjoy!

Total Price: $2.32
Protein Content: 37g

I hope you enjoy this recipe.  I know I enjoy it 3-4 times per week, after every workout!  It’s both tasty and healthy, and it will save you money.  You can’t beat that!

If you’d like to cut costs even more, you can use non-organic ingredients, but I recommend sticking with organic when possible. Please let me know if you enjoyed this recipe in the comments section, and if you have any recipes you’d like to share, feel free to include them, too!  Thanks for reading!

Eating out is one of the worst things we can do for our finances.  While I think everyone should eat out occasionally (it can be very relaxing and socially rewarding), I don’t think eating out for lunch every day is acceptable; although it’s something that many of us do.  I used to eat lunch out five times per week at about $8 a pop.  Putting that in perspective, that’s about $40 per week, or $160 per month, or worse yet, $1,920 per year!

Now let’s fast-forward to today, at which point I find myself eating out only once per week.  At $8 a pop, that’s only about $32 per month.  So, what do I eat instead?  I find that Peanut Butter & Jelly sandwiches with a side of fruit is an excellent replacement for those $8 meals I had been partaking of.  Later in this post, I’ll explain how to make PB&J sandwiches quickly, economically, and efficiently; but for now, let’s do the math.  I can buy a loaf of bread for $2 and some peanut butter and jelly for about $5.  This makes 10 sandwiches, which, at 4 sandwiches per week, equates to about $12 per month.  This, along with a banana per day at about $1 per pound (organic, ~3 bananas per pound), comes out to about $20 per month or $240 per year.  Adding in our one day per week of eating out, we get $240 + $32*$12 = $240 + $384 = $624 per year.  Subtracting this from $1,920, we get a whopping $1,296 in savings for the year!

Now, as Dave Ramsey would likely point out, I could invest that $1,296 in the market at a hypothetical ~8% and turn it into nearly $9,000 in 25 years [1296*1.08^25 = $8,875 + change].  Will I do that?  Probably not… but I wish I were disciplined enough to do just that.

How to Make PB&J Sandwiches Quickly and Efficiently

There are a couple of problems with my proposal.  The first problem is that, if you are like me, you often don’t have time to slap together a sandwich nearly every morning.  The second problem is that you will likely grow tired of peanut butter and jelly after a while.  I’ll address both of these problems below.

1. The great thing about PB&J sandwiches is that they freeze very well.  I recommend that you make up a couple weeks’ worth of sandwiches at a time–this means you’ll only have to put in the extra effort to make your lunch twice a month!!!  This really does save a lot of work (and a lot of time), but there are some precautions to take.  The most important thing to remember is that you don’t want the jelly to actually make contact with the bread.  If it does, it will bond with the bread and crystallize when it freezes.  To work around this, just remember to spread peanut butter on both pieces of bread.  The peanut butter will serve as a protective layer, preventing the jelly from making contact with the bread.  The only other important point is to make sure you seal your bag completely (I recommend Ziploc(R) handy bags).  You don’t want your sandwiches to end up “freezer burned.”  To recap: twice a month, get out 16 pieces of bread, spread peanut butter on each piece, and add jelly to make a sandwich.  Drop each sandwich in an individual sandwich bag, seal completely, and pop in the freezer.  Voila!  You now have your lunch (for the most part) for the next two weeks!  When lunch time rolls around, just grab a sandwich from the freezer, let thaw for about an hour, and eat up!  It will taste like you just made it.
2. Variety is key.  There are many ways you can spice this up.  Use a different kind of jelly each month.  Use honey instead of jelly (this is REALLY good, by the way).  Heck, if you get tired of peanut butter sandwiches, make a different kind of sandwich.  The possibilities are endless.  Peanut butter is what works for me, but I’m pretty sure the math will work out in your favor if you choose a different kind of sandwich.  The important thing is you are saving money.  AND you are probably eating healthier, too.

So… the next time you find yourself paying $8 or more for your lunch, remember that the REAL cost may be much greater than $8.