We go through paper and computer ink like crazy around our house. It seems the kids are always printing out coloring pages, or I am printing coupons or home school resources.
Paper and ink can get expensive though, so here are some ways we save money printing.
Scrap paper
I have a huge binder of scrap paper. This can be anything from old mail to pages that didn’t print correctly to worksheets we never finished. When the kids want a piece of paper I direct them to this folder. Unless it is something important or a letter they are mailing, scrap paper works fine. It is also great for printing coupons. Just make sure the paper is in your printer correctly so the coupons print on the clean side.
Print two pages per sheet
Did you know that you can set your printer to print two pages on one piece of paper? This works well for items you need to file and save as well as printing out answer keys for homeschooling worksheets.
Recycle your empty ink cartridges
If you are a Staples Rewards member you can recycle ANY ink cartridge – no matter which brand! This includes Brother®, Epson® and Canon ink or toner cartridges, up to 10 per calendar month per customer and receive $3 back in Staples Rewards per cartridge. There might be other programs like this, but we live near a Staples so this is the one we use. I still haven’t figured out how to save big money on replacing the ink cartridges, although this article from PC World is a starting point.
Set your printer to the lowest quality setting
Most if not all printers have settings that allow you to print using less ink. I use this setting on almost everything I print.
Print on the front and back of your paper
Unless you have really fancy printer this takes a little extra time but it saves paper and you will have less paper clutter.
Shred your paper and junk mail and use it as mulch
This is a great way to recycle paper and put those credit card offers to good use.
Create master lists and reuse them
Many times I have taken lists and covered them in contact paper to be able to reuse them over and over. You can use a dry erase marker to write on the contact paper, then wipe off and reuse.
Store files on a hard drive rather than a filing cabinet
I try to do as much as possible online to cut down on my mail and postage costs. Many documents (especially from the bank) can be stored on a hard drive rather than printed. We have a separate hard drive so if one of our computers freaks out, we don’t lose our files.
Find deals on photo printing instead of printing at home
I have a photo printer and must admit I love the convenience of printing off my own photos at home, but I can save money by finding deals and having them printed somewhere else. Walgreens and Kodak Gallery flood my inbox with photo printing deals on a daily basis. It is cheaper to have them printed rather than using up expensive ink and good quality photo paper.
When purchasing a printer check the cost of the ink
Honestly, I am telling this to myself more than anyone else. The ink for our last printer was outrageous! I was almost happy when the printer broke because I wouldn’t have to buy the very expensive ink cartridges anymore. Also, it had this annoying feature that when one cartridge went out it wouldn’t print anything… nice! You had to replace all the cartridges, not just the one that was empty. When looking for a new printer check the price of the ink before you buy!
Upstatemomof3 says
Ink cost was the number one factor in getting the new printer.
Amy Ellen says
Great tips! I will have to try the contact paper on master lists idea. And yes, we buy our printers factoring in the cost of replacement ink. My husband’s brilliance there…
Rebecca says
Great tips. The printer we have is really nice. It was a top of the line photo printer when I bought it 4 years ago (I was GREATLY influenced by my boyfriend at the time). I had a roommate who was an art and design major and she printed off everything for her senior portfolio on that printer. I rarely use it for anything except documents. Photo printing is just expensive. Oh, and there was that one incident where we walked into the living room and the baby was covered in ink and was holding what used to be a photo. That was one of our strangest poison control phone calls.
Somebody's Mimi says
We have our ink cartridges refilled at Dr. Ink. Our Walgreens will refill ink cartrdges also. Dr Ink also explained to me that the new cartridges on the market only hold half the ink they did, say 2 years ago… the cartridge companies are putting in smaller sponges that hold less ink… he even took apart a cartridge and showed me the difference. I thought I was using a lot of ink, but actually I wasn’t. Tricky huh?
Erica says
A friend of mine bought a refill ink kit and walmart and they do it themselves. She said it wasn’t too hard. I haven’t tried it yet. For now, we just buy refilled ink cartridges on ebay. I can usually get a colored and black for 17 bucks
Stephanie says
I have saved a lot of money by getting my ink refilled at Walgreens. This month it was only $7.50 with a $7.50 rebate!
I have also bought the Staples generic brand for my ink which is about $10 cheaper!
JustAnotherSAHM says
Ditto getting refills at Walgreens…except they don’t do my Dell printer! Ack!
I’m actually considering buying a different printer because of the ink cost. Printers are so unbelievably cheap that it would be worth it in the long run just to have less expensive ink for school stuff.
Linda says
Have you tried sheet protectors for your master lists instead of contact paper? I do this and then i can store them in a binder or hang them on a push pin on one of our cork boards. I have one binder that is car games like bingo or scavenger hunts for the kids that stays in the car. They love these. I normally use the wet erase marker (which comes off easily with a baby wipe) because it will not smudge as easily as the dry erase.
Donita says
My sister found two BOXES of old printer paper (the continuous stream of perforated sheets with the punch holes on the side) on Craigslist.com that was being given away for free. She just had to go pick it up. For her artistic daughter it’s perfect.
niki says
Nice tips here. I am seriously considering trying out having my tanks refilled.
🙂
Anne-Marie says
I watch for sales on paper, mostly at Staples. My kids could go thru a ream each week if I let them.
The ink for my last printer was so expensive that it would have been cheaper to buy a new printer than replace the ink. This one isn’t so bad, except for the darn alignment it performs by wasting a bunch of the new ink to print out the alignment page. I think it’s a built-in scam, but I can’t find anyway to circumvent it.
Sherry says
We try to do a lot of these. We have an ink refill place here and use it. It costs half as much as getting a new cartridge. 😀
Katie @ 3 Blondes and a Redhead says
The shredded paper as mulch tip is great – I just found out shredded paper isn’t recyclable! That surprised me, for some reason.
Great tips…ink is ridiculously expensive. It adds up QUICK!
Jackie R/ says
Oh man, I had actually forgotten that you can print 2 sheets to a page! Thanks so much for the reminder!
Sonita Lewis says
The main factor in deciding what printer to buy recently when ours died was cost of ink. When I found a printer with $1/cartridge ink I knew that was the printer for me! LOL I paid @25 for 25 ink cartridges (that includes shipping) I’m extremely happy with it.
BTW-always research your printer-always. I’ll never, ever buy a lexmark again. You can’t refill the cartridges because of a computer chip in the cartridge! I’m not okay with a company that does that.
Jan says
When our old printer died and I went to purchase another, I commented t the clerk how expensive the ink was-it was more than the printer. He said he saved money by just buying a new cheap printer when the ink ran out. So much for being green!
Melissa@SimplyMel says
I just had this discussion about ink on Facebook. I was told by several people that you can order “no name” printer ink on Amazon.com for WAY less and it works great. I have an HP printer and they said when you search for the ink you regularly use Amazon.com will recommend similar ink that costs less. I was amazed at the difference in price my friends told me about. I spend a fortune on ink b/c I too homeschool and am always printing stuff out.
Thanks for these tips. Especially the paper as mulch!
Erica R says
Use ebay for ink. You can usually score a great deal on ink. Ink has an expiration date so stores can’t sell it after it expires but does ink really expire. No. The ink for our printer is over $120 in the stores and I can get 2 toner cartridges on ebay for $20! Never had a problem with them.
Amber @ Classic Housewife says
Really good ideas! I need to implement that scrap paper binder!