Are you down to your last pair of contacts and not willing to fork over the dough? One mom found a solution.

Recession Mama: So, I was on my last pair of contacts, and I was at that desperate stage where everything was fuzzy after 5 PM. I was tempted to (horror of horrors) just buy some at my optometrist's office because I thought my normal, painstaking price comparison would take too long.

Luckily, I found several sites dedicated to online contact lens comparison shopping. The ones I liked best were LensShopper.com and FindContactLenses.com, because they were the most comprehensive. Once I got the best price for my Acuvue lenses, I checked for any online coupons by Googling the websites' names with the word "coupon." I also checked for cash back by using the Cashback Monitor. I found that one site was giving 20% cash back, but it couldn't be combined with coupons. No problem -- I was already getting the lowest price and free shipping.

Also, buying eight boxes gave me an additional savings before I purchased -- and I would get more than $27 cash back. Fifteen minutes at home saved almost $70 off the retail price for the very same lenses!

And I got to shop at midnight in my jammies ...

A former state deputy attorney general and current stay-at-home mom, Recession Mama Michele Ashamalla has three kids and ten years of experience stretching one salary to cover the necessities and more. She's all about saving money whenever you can, so you have it to spend on whatever you want!