I have finally done it. After years of weighing up the pros and cons (and telling my optometrist every time I saw him that I would do it) I have just had laser eye surgery. Anyone who has had this procedure can tell you just how expensive it is, and there is only one health fund who covers the cost (after a 3 year waiting period). My health fund doesn’t cover laser eye surgery.

I was talking to one of the people who had it done the same day as me and she said that although the cost of the surgery was over $5000, she would make the money back in about 4 years. She was a regular contact lens wearer, which cost her about $110 per month.

I rarely wore contacts and had last updated my glasses about 2 years ago. By my calculations, the time taken to recover the cost of the surgery will be about 25 to 30 years! But this is not just about money. It’s a lifestyle change. A change that allows me to do lots of things I previously couldn’t (or at least do lots of things with much more ease than I could before). Laser eye surgery is a luxury, but one that had been budgeted for and covered by savings.

It’s part of what financial freedom means for me.