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10 Ways to Save Money on Printer Ink
1. The easiest and fastest way to save on ink is to choose “draft quality” when printing
Your printer will print faster and use less ink without a noticeable quality degrade. You can change the print quality settings on your printer to have all print jobs print in draft mode or choose it each time you print.
Below is a screenshot from my HP ENVY 4500, each printer is different so refer to your printer’s manual or Google “how to change print quality settings on…” and then your printer model.
2. Print or PDF only what you want with CleanPrint or PrintWhatYouLike
CleanPrint is a Chrome Plugin that puts you in control of saving paper, ink, and money when printing from the web. You can edit content before saving articles to Print, PDF, Google Docs, Google Drive, Dropbox or Box.net.
PrintWhatYouLike is another option that lets you print the needed parts of any web page while skipping ads and other junk you don’t need.
3. Print in black and white wherever possible.
Black ink cartridges are usually much cheaper than color ink in most cases.
4. Buy ink at a discount
To save on your ink consider using websites such as 123inkjets & Amazon to buy your ink instead of just grabbing it at any store when you’re in need.
If you have an HP printer or plan on buying one you should consider the HP Instant Ink Program for your ink, it can save you up to 50%, and you will never run out of ink because your printer notifies HP when you are running low, and they ship you the next cartridge automatically!
Plans start at just $2.99 a month and right now you can Try it FREE for 2 months using coupon code: SAVE50PERCENT (expires soon so hurry up and join).
You can find out more about the program here.
I just signed up to get my 3 free months and if you go through my referral link here, you will get an additional month free for a total of 3 free months! Make sure you see the free month and add the promo code so that your total due is $0 before finalizing your order.
MONEY SAVING HACK: Check out How I Print for Free Using the Hp Instant Ink Program. Click here.
5. Print Preview
Before you print anything, make use of the preview option and check whether things look good. At this point, you may decide to change the settings manually, for example, print several pages on one piece of paper, reduce the size of an image.
6. Use an ink refill kit
If you follow the instructions carefully and work in an area where you can make a mess, you can save a lot of money by refilling your cartridges instead of buying new.
7. Use a cashback site to get cashback on your online purchases
My favorites are Rakuten (formally Ebates) & Topcashback. I know I talk about this method a lot, but it is just a great way to save money on almost anything and can be combined with some of the other methods mentioned.
8. Use coupons and take advantage of reward programs
For Staples, you can TEXT “SIGNUP” to 555444 and get a $5 off $25 coupon texted to you, you can also signup for their newsletter and get coupons emailed to you.
As part of the Staples Rewards Program, you get $2 in Rewards per recycled ink cartridge (up to 20 per month. Minimum purchase required). Office Depot/Max has a similar program as well so be sure to take advantage of these programs.
9. Use discounted gift cards to purchase your ink
Use discounted gift cards from sites like Raise, GiftCardMall & Gift Card Granny to purchase your ink.
You will just need to plan ahead and buy the gift cards in advance. Best of all Raise sells Egift cards which can be used online in conjunction with coupons and cash back that I just mentioned.
10. Buy the right printer
Consider what type of printer you need before buying. Considering what your printer needs are will not only help with saving ink but also saving money on your printer.
Check out the Printer BUYING GUIDE from consumer reports here before making your purchase: http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/printers/buying-guide.htm
Consider if you really need to print it on paper! Try only printing what you absolutely need; it saves ink, paper, and clutter.
I use draft printing for 90% of my things too! It saves so much ink!
Yes! Draft mode is such a savior, its been almost 8 months since i bought an ink refill hehe.
That’s great!
I super agree on this. My boys would print a lot for their school projects and assignments. When they are to print documents, I would tell them to set the printer’s setting to draft only. When they need full color pictures, that’s the only time i tell them to set the printer on standard mode. Saves a lot!
It would definitely be nice to save on printer ink, it doesn’t really come cheap when you think about it. I like the suggestions that you have here, they are effective and worth trying!
Thanks, they really are if you think ahead you will save a lot of money.
Thanks for the tip about HP. I never heard of it, but I am certainly going to look into it.
Your welcome!
This is great advice! I used to be more economical, but now I have so little time I don’t really think about it any more, and I should!
Our printer is busted right now, thanks to my McGyver wanna be son. Needs to purchase a new one and check again this 10 ways to save printer ink. 🙂
Yes, and be sure to check out the consumer reports guide I listed before buying :-). And if you are planning on using the HP ink program check to see which printers are included, my HP envy 4500 is great for my needs.
I used an ink refill once and it was a complete and total disaster! It ended up costing me more in the long run. I generally stock up on printer ink in my travels to less expensive places, and call it good.
I have not tried refilling myself but Walgreens use to refill ink for really cheap I am just not sure they do it anymore.
Agreeing with you! Great tips and information. Thanks for that!
Great tips! I’ll be putting many of them to use!
I am always looking for ways to save. Like your information on printer ink. I have try refilling once its reasonable less.
I definitely need this! Ink is getting super expensive these days!
In my area, there is a ink refill store where you just take in your old cartridge and exchange/purchase a refilled one for less than $10.
The time is coming up again when I”ll need these.
Thank you! These things are so expensive!
We have a printer at home & we never though about ideas that could save the printer before. This could be so helpful for my husband very much as he uses the printer in a rush most times. We always prefer online stores like Amazon to get our Refill pack.
How have I never heard of using draft quality when printing?! Thanks for the tips 🙂
http://www.forblueskies.com
using the draft mode is a great tip! I do that already and it really saves my ink. I have also bought cartridges that have been refilled, but make sure you get them from a quality seller, As I had a few that leaked everywhere
Great, I always just use greyscale but I learnt something new today.
A lot of great tips here! Thank you for sharing!
Print only what you need. Save the trees. For a bookworm like myself, it can be such a struggle.
Oh, i badly need this. Awesome tips thank you thank you 😀
I love the idea of the HP ink program. And I had no idea about the draft setting!