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. 

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