We should give up on gold or silver backed currency, or even “forever” postage stamps as currency and everyone should invest in ink and toner. Good grief. I can’t help but wonder what they make it out of that makes it so expensive!

I have two small businesses at home and between the two, I can use $500 in toner in a month! (yes, a month!) I did some research and found that toner is far more affordable in the long-run than ink. Also, it can’t be beat for durability. One cup of coffee spilled on your ink-jet printed manuscript and it’s nothing more than a watercolor.

I discovered that I can buy a new printer for the cost of a set of toner refills for my printer (when purchased through a discounter). Pretty spooky! Keeping the environment in mind, I’m not buying a new printer every month—but I do keep close tabs on my ink vendors and my supply.

Using an online retailer like inksmile.com or lazermonks.com to buy refurbished toner cartridges cuts my costs in about half. Free Shipping on ANY Order at InkSmile.com.
Unfortunately, with my particular size and shape of cartridge, there’s no buyback program for a refurb cartridge, but I do donate the empties at my church for their recycling program. A brand-name (HP or Cannon) cartridge can sometimes be re-sold to the manufacturer, but I’ve yet to find a market for a generic one.

Also, I always keep a spare toner (four in my case as I have a CMYK printer) on hand so if prices are high or there aren’t any sales, I’m not forced to buy at the local shop (The local Office Depot only carries brand-name toners, and they’re about double the cost of my online toners). Before placing an order I always google for the latest sales and promo codes. Sometimes I even send an email to my vendors asking for when their next sale will be. And in a shocking bit of frugality, I once asked for a discount to be applied when my toners went on sale a few days after purchasing a full set—and received a hefty refund of the difference!

This post is part of a series I’ve entitled “Frugal August” and is inspired by (though not copied from) the book The Complete Tightwad Gazetteby Amy Dacyczyn. My tips are meant to build on hers, but generally are not duplications.