Wednesday, October 10, 2007

4 Ways to Save $ on Printing

Over the past week I have had my share (and I’m pretty sure the shares of several others) of frustrations with printing, namely, ink refills. I have an HP OfficeJet and erroneously assumed that it was meant for small office use due to the name “OFFICE Jet”. Not so. I can print 10-15 flyers and I have to refill the ink once again. That gets really messy. I do have a backup printer because I’ve learned that hard way that I absolutely need one. It is an OLD color laser. And a big headache. It prints red where it should print white (or NOT print, that is). The imaging drum on that finally gave way last night and now I am faced with two printers that just aren’t up to par. BROTHER has saved my day. I purchased a color laser printer that prints just beautifully! The white parts are white!

Now, for the $ part: toner isn’t cheap. Here are a few tips to help you save money on toner and maybe save a little sanity. I hope you haven’t had the troubles that I have had and if so, I do have a recommended printer if you’d like the information (small plug for BROTHER).

#1: Purchase ink and toner online. Ebay has a plethora of ink and toner available and you can search by your printer model number. If you need help, I can search for you.
#2: Set your default settings to GRAYSCALE. This will save you from printing the little bits of color that are in emails, web pages, and the like. It can really add up to savings.
In your START menu, go to your CONTROL PANEL
Go to PRINTERS
Right-click over the printer you use
Click on PRINTING PREFERENCES
Change the default color to GRAYSCALE or MONO, whichever is available on your settings.
#3: If possible, buy generic ink.
#4: Sell your empty toner cartridges. Yes, many places will recycle them for free but they make money on them. Why shouldn’t you? You can get up to $11 for some cartridges. Send me your printer manufacturer name and ink cartridge #s and I’ll find out how much you could get for them.

Now, on the flipside – I now offer color laser printing. Let me know if I can help you with your printing needs.

HAPPY PRINTING!

About Me

South Bend, IN, United States
I am a hard-working, organized and computer proficient Virtual Assistant. My expertise is in the real estate field. My mom has been a REALTOR since I was 12 so it was only natural to become an assistant to one of the top 50 agents in Indiana when I was in college. After college I went to work at the area's most respected title insurance company as a title production specialist. I then moved into my true calling area - Marketing. I spent 5 years in Marketing and just love helping people out and getting their problems solved...fast! I am now combining my three loves: Real Estate, Administrative/Marketing Support and my children into My Assistant ~ Virtual Assistance to the Real Estate Industry.