I just recently purchased what would be $120 worth of ink for our printers. After my Ebates ^[1] cash back, a coupon code, FREE shipping and deciding upon purchasing a cartridge refurb, that total dropped to around $35!

We all need printer ink, especially to print the great coupons!!! It is a requirement to saving money with coupons. Sometimes printing so much makes me wonder if the $1 coupon is really worth it! Luckily for Ebates ^[1] and saving purchasing cartridge refurbishments, I don’t have to consider that as much.

Have you use remanufactured or refurbished cartridges before? I have been purchasing remanufactured cartridges for a few years now. I have found, for my printer, the quality is just the same. And, I don’t know if it is me but the remanufacturered cartridge ink lasts me longer than a brand new one.

The only downside to purchasing ink online is the shipping time. The very last set of cartridges I purchased were brand new and from Staples. The cost was around $50! The same two purchased as remanufactured were about $20. Since I didn’t have time to wait for the shipping time, I had to suck up the cost and spend more. I firmly believe that planning most purchases will save you in the long run. That’s $30 I can’t get back!!! And, the cartridges didn’t even last as long as my refurb ones did!

I ordered my cartridges through 4inkjets.com ^[2]. But, I have also ordered from 123inkjets.com ^[3]. 4inkjets offers 19% cash back at Ebates ^[1] and 123inkjets offers everyday 16% cash back. The cartridges were $1 more expensive at 123inkjets too.

Another thing worth the mention is these companies also offer 100% Satisfaction Guarantees. If you try these and don’t like them, simply return them! I have never had an issue. It is a nice way to try something new if you are nervous about it.

Walgreens has also offered FREE cartridge refills on certain days too. Those have also been great! I have only used the black refill since I typically print in black only. But, with my refilled cartridges, I get both black and color and they work perfect. I always keep at least one old cartridge at home for the Walgreens refill FREEbies (if they come around again).

Don’t forget that you if you order from either 4inkjets.com ^[4] or 123inkjets.com ^[5] you can ALSO use online coupon codes when you shop through Ebates ^[6]. So you are saving buying a refurbished model, using coupon codes to get additional savings, AND getting cash back! It’s awesome!! Remember, new Ebates ^[1] members can get a $5 sign-on bonus too! Read all about Ebates and other ways to shop online and earn $$ ^[7].

Just a few general printing tips I have been following for years. If you are printing coupons, or other non-critical documents. Set you printer to fast draft. For coupons, they really need to scan, but the most critical aspect is the remit to address being legible. So, a draft quality works fine! You can save on ink and it just prints faster.

Also, for large documents, I try to select only the text I really want to print (highlight the text and when printing, hit the “Print Selected Text” button). By doing this, I don’t get the ads or other items that I don’t necessarily need to have printed. That saves on ink and speeds up the printing.

So, this is just one more way I save as I save (to print coupons). As I mentioned above, buying refurbished cartridges, or even purchasing online to get cash back, does require some planning. I actually always order two refills just so I don’t have to order for a while! It’s always good to have a backup!

Do you have any tips or suggestions for saving on printer ink?

I purchased all reburbished cartridges: 4 OfficeJet cartridges and 1 Laser Jet cartridge. A brand new Laser Jet cartridge retails for around $75!! And, yeap, my total after all discounts/cash back was around $35! Love it!!