Radical Spending...

So this year I am participating with a local church in my area in what is called, "The Radical Experiment".  I will share more on that later but one of the key objectives to the experiment is to see how much money you can save in order to use that money for making disciples of all nations.; local, global, etc.  On the Radical Experiment blog, they have been listing different cost cutting measures.  Some are extreme, others are just good, general ideas for everyone.

I wanted to share one budget success for the year.  One thing I knew ahead of time was that I would have to buy new eyeglasses.  I have been putting it off so long that it is becoming unsafe to use them when I am driving or doing other things that require seeing details (don't worry I have contacts in 95% of the time).  I had mainly been putting it off because it was so stinking expensive.  Well, this year I set a budget for my glasses, got the tax free dollars you can set aside ahead of time for expenses such as these, and headed out on the trail.  

I knew the trick....walk into the store, find a frame that works perfect and fits the budget and then BAM.....add in the lenses which are up to twice as much as the frame plus scratch proof coating and night laser vision optics and some other insurance just in case your dog eats them and cha-ching, your bill is upwards of $350.00 even after being frugal in a frame selection.  

I went shopping this year and the Lord hooked me up with a deal!  I chose to eliminate my normal location because I knew they would be the highest just from viewing them online.  I set out next to Target and got a reasonable estimate for a pair of glasses I was reasonably satisfied with.  Next, I moved on to a new place outside our new Target called Eyemart.  I figured I could get some really classy wire rimmed circa 1980 glasses at a place with that name.  Well, they proved me wrong!  They had more frames I was interested in than the other two locations and the frame price was significantly less.   I thought the catch must be coming in the lenses but those were a fraction of the cost of the Target lenses....with even better features.  Well, now that I have nerded you to death let me sum it up by saying....there are cheaper options out there for most anything with the same (or better) quality.  Don't settle or be lazy, the less money we spend on the stuff we have to get....the more for that's left for the kingdom.  Oh, and just for the record, I came in $3.96 under budget.  Waahhoooo!!!