Saving Money on Printable Coupons

With any luck, you’ve been able to score some great deals by using coupons that you’ve printed online. Unfortunately, with all of that savings come some expenses. Printer ink and paper can seem expensive, but they don’t have to be. Here are my tips for saving money without breaking the bank.

1. Reuse Paper

When you print one or two coupons at a time, you’re left with one- or two-thirds of the sheet. You can stick that remaining paper back into the printer and print a couple more coupons on it.

What about those annoying coupons that print at the top of the page, then print an ad on the rest of the paper? Just cut off the coupon, turn the paper around, and send it back through the printer. Stores accept coupons with things printed on the back. With that in mind, you can reuse virtually any paper in your home that only has ink on one side.

2. Adjust Your Printer Settings

Set your printer to print only in black, and make sure you use the fast draft setting. The fast draft setting will print everything using as little ink as possible. Coupons will come out looking slightly faded, but again, stores will still accept them.

Many computers are different, but you’ll likely be able to find your printer’s settings by going to the control panel from the start menu. Changing those settings will help you preserve ink when printing other documents, as well, and the settings can easily be changed back when necessary.

3. Save on Ink

There are a couple ways to avoid paying full price for ink. The first is to refill your cartridges yourself. Refill kits can be purchased at any office supply store, drugstore, or mass retailer (Walmart, Target, etc.) or online. The process can be messy, but well worth it.

If you aren’t up to filling cartridges on your own, you can take them to an office supply store. At Office Max, you can refill your cartridges and earn rewards points to use on future purchases.

The second option is to buy inexpensive ink. Staples will pay you to recycle your cartridge with them; the check they send is only good at Staples, but that allows you to keep rolling the savings back into buying more ink and paper. Walgreens runs specials on ink from time to time, as does Walmart. I haven’t purchased ink online, but I’ve heard from others that it’s a good option.

More than once, I’ve heard the argument that using printed coupons isn’t worth the savings because of the amount of money you have to spend on ink and paper. False. All you have to do is make the most of the paper and ink you have, and be wise when purchasing more.