Anyone who’s purchased prescription glasses in the past ten years knows they’re a pretty spendy endeavor. So it felt a bit too good to be true when I stumbled upon Zenni Optical (thanks to Clark Howard), an online resource for cheapo glasses. And when I say cheapo, I mean the kind of cheap that drives an expletive out of a preacher-man.

Now…I’m not sayin’ I’m ever going to favor these glasses over my ‘spensive pair, but they are definitely right up my alley for sunglasses (for $4.95, you can tint them in a range of colors). I purchased a pair from Zenni two years ago for about $23 including shipping, and they held up pretty well until one arm broke recently. But hey, who cares? They were $23! So I went back to the well for another pair and these are what I’ve narrowed it down to:

The OMG-Eight Bucks Category:
(After clicking on the photos below, enlarge the photos on the site to see other colors/patterns each frame is available in.)

These are still around the price of a movie ticket, at $9.95:

Comparable in price to a dinner entree, at $12.95:

And for those of you out there who want to spend the big bucks, these are a whoppin’ $29.95:

I should explain that I’m not one to buy into the current trends in sunglasses–those big dinner-plate lenses that are the rave for women these days might look good on other people but when I put them on my head I feel ridiculous. I also tend toward goofy colors and whatnot (obviously), because even though I haven’t hit a beach since my brother’s wedding two years ago, I still think of sunglasses as a beach accessory and don’t identify them with the reality of wearing them everyday in the car.

If you share my view, get yourself some cheapo shades!