I bought my lone pair of glasses in 2009 and I've replaced the lenses once since then. I wear them every day. Now I'm wondering what everyone else is doing.

FYI, I wear my glasses 16 hours a day (100% of awake time), so I replace them every year, just to get a fresh pair.

Mine generally last a two years or so, before they are scratched and fogged to the point that my vision is affected. The big culprit is dust - often metal dust, but also hardwood dust - in the shop. Even if you religiously use a non-scratching, micro-fiber wipe (which is hard), just dragging the stuff across the lenses damages them. Another culprit is glue, particularly CA (super) glue but also other types. You may not think it would end up on your glasses, but if you're using much of it, eventually microdroplets end up on your lenses. This does immediate, permanent damage to polycarbonate lenses.

My desk glasses, optimized for computer screen distance and never actually leaving my office, on the other hand - easily last a decade with no discernable damage. Because - no significant dust, no organic vapors, no glue, and always wiped with a clean micro-fiber wipe.

Rinse with water before wiping.

That removes way less than all of the abrasive dust, and to some extent just turns what remains in to an abrasive slurry. You still get abrasion of the coating over time. And water doesn't help at all with damage due to solvents, glue, and the like.

For me it’s always been chlorine and other cleaning products. Salt water and sweat doesn’t help either.

Forget to take the glasses off before you jump into the pool or readjust your glasses while cleaning the house and before you know it the coating starts to dissolve. Even if you’re religiously rinsing them, the accumulated damage to the coatings fogs up the lenses and weakens the surface against scratches.

I prefer thin frames which are more fragile.

I also toss and turn in my sleep, knocking things off the nightstand and then stepping on them when I get out of bed.

For me I've got regular driving glasses, safety glasses, computer glasses (you don't want to use your full prescription for close distance), and sun glasses.

well lots of peoples prescription changes frequently. and other people care about fashion.

Your style of glasses can say a lot about you as a person.

Some of us have eyes that don't permit that. From the point I started needed glasses I have only once gone a year on the pair I use for the computer--nothing wrong with the glass, it's just my eyes drift enough that they start giving me headaches. I usually get 2-3 years out of my progressives before they're too far off and need replacement. With an adaptable lens my brain simply automatically compensates as my eyes change, I only need replacement when the infinity goes wrong or as my astigmatism changes too much.

> It is a similarly wild situation where eye exams at Walmart can be cheaper than at a regular eye doctor covered by my insurance.

I don't know the situation, but it's possible that Walmart doesn't make any money on that, or even loses money, to get you into a Walmart store.

It might be, but I suspect not; the optometrist is 'independent' so if Walmart is subsidizing them it's by free rent or something.

It's likely that it's mainly volume (and NO insurance paperwork at all) - the one I went to doesn't even take insurance, cash or credit card only.

Unless state law says otherwise the optician is an independent business. Check your local laws, some states don't allow that arrangement.

I'm not sure what the business deal is, but it looks to me like the rent the space from walmart and wal-mart does the scheduling. That is the person who does the exam isn't a WalMart employee, but they use WalMart for services. If you watch close you will notice they use a different POS system for paying for your exam from the one you use to buy your glasses.

Independent doesn't mean that there isn't a profit to Walmart in having it there. I go to one of those Walmart eye docs--she's independent of the store and has her own office staff, but her office has a second door that opens into Walmart's optical center.

Something I have noticed with eye "insurance"--mostly they pay $X for particular things but when you look at what's available it's something like $X *above* what we pay at Costco. In one case I was even able to confirm that the "insurance" isn't actually paying anything.

And the only time I've paid over $100 for frames is when I order the ones with a magnetic polarized clip-on that are hard to find. (And I wish I could find something like my old ones where the magnets were on top instead of on the bottom. It was more secure.)