How to Save Money on Printer Paper

Whether you’re interested in cutting down on using printer paper because of the cost, the non-sustainability / environmental issues or both, there are several ways to make the most out of your printer without burning through printer paper like it’s going out of style, as it were.

First of all, I don’t know about you, but with the innovation of the internet combined with having a printer, around 1996 I found myself printing out anything and everything, just because I could.

Directions to the party… Cool! I can print them out. Shopping list… Well, I could walk to the kitchen and get a piece of paper and write down everything we need or I could make it take even longer by finding the word processing program and typing my entire list so that I can print.

I’m telling you, I printed just to print!

The reality of my fixation became apparent as piles of irrelevant pages with random information printed upon them grew in every corner of my office.

Sure it’s great to have access to all the neat stuff I’d found on the web, but finally I had to give myself a talking to: “Isn’t that what computers are for? –for storing vast amounts of data in a small amount of space…”

Once I assured myself that I could access my favorite and most inspiring information at any time and print things if and as I needed to, the piles of wasted paper disappeared. And as I’ve gotten even better at organizing my stores of data I find it even less necessary to print things.

If you want to go through less paper there are several ways to decrease the amount of printer paper you go through. If you’re like the ‘old me’ and print out things that are only good for a day or two, collect all these pages and use the back sides for printing. This is a simple way to get twice as much out of the printer paper you buy.

If you’re more interested in saving money on the printer paper you buy, check out Office Depot’s free printer paper deal where every time you bring in your old printer cartridges for replacement you get a free ream of paper. I know of several small businesses that go through their printer ink so much faster than their free paper reams that they start giving it away to friends!