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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.
4. 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 or watch the video I embedded from their website below. 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.
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 cash back on your online purchases. My favorites are 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 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