How to Save on Printer Ink with Printable Coupons

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Printable coupons are a huge money saver, but expensive ink cartridges can cut into your savings quickly. Fortunately, there are several methods you can use to save ink and money when printing your printable grocery coupons.

Begin by changing your printer settings.

• Go to the computers Control Panel.
• Select your printer's icon. (The default printer is indicated with a check mark.)
• Right-click on the printer icon and go to "Properties."
• All printers are different but you should be able to edit the ink-saving features by clicking on "Advanced."
• Select the lowest resolution, quick print or "draft" setting to use the least amount of ink without affecting the scanning quality of the coupon.
• If your black and white cartridge is separate from your color cartridge, opt to print everything i black and white. Even if the item you're printing is black and white, some color ink is used by the printer.

When you run out of ink, try these money-saving options.

• Walgreens, Office Max and Costco refill art cartridges for you, starting at around $10 for black and white. On occasion you'll find an in-ad coupon that will even further reduce the price.
• Use Staples cartridge-recycling program to save $3 per cartridge. This requires a Staples Reward Card, however.
• Buy a laser printer, which uses the less expensive toner instead of pricey ink cartridges. Toner cartridges generally last roughly 3,000 to 5,300 prints. New laser printers begin at around $100 but you'll save on ink and can sell your old printer online.

Some Web sites print the entire page, instead of just the coupon. That's a tremendous waste of ink. While you can't select to print only the coupon, you can change your permanent printer settings to automatically default to the lowest possible ink setting. To do so:

• Click on the Start button and select Control Panel."
• Open "Printers and Faxes."
• Find the printer you use to print coupons and right click on it.
• Choose "Printing Preferences" from the drop-down menu that will appear.
• Set your preferences to "draft" and check the box for "Print in Black and White."
• Press "Okay."

Your computer is now set to automatically print coupons using the least amount of ink. Remember to change the settings back, if you want to print documents in color or at a high resolution.