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Get your ink cartridges refilled at Costco for half the price. I've been doing that for a long time with my Canon Pixma printer. I can't tell any difference in the ink quality.

Spend $100 and buy yourself a black and white laser printer. Only print things that absolutely need color to your inkjet. You'll save a ton of money over time.

DogHouseDub, on 17 May 2012 - 10:28 AM, said:

I'll second the part about the laser printer; but it's been my experience with some color inkjets that if you don't use the ink, you'll still lose it anyway - it seems many inkjet printers run ink-consuming cleaning operations on the print-heads if a few days have elapsed between prints.

I agree with len5. I recently started taking all my cartridges to Costco. They refill them why you shop and the price is 50% to 60% off. Ink quality looks the same as original. And you help save the environment.

I wouldn't recommend this as your inks will evaporate and if you have an epson (as most professional graphics people do) the heads will dry and clog.)

agno3, on 17 May 2012 - 01:06 PM, said:

All ink jet printers clog if they are not used on a regular basis. Epson printers are no better or worse for clogging. I have used them for years and had no clogging problem at all. Trust me if the inks would evaporate Costco wouldn't be selling them ... they do more product research than any other retailer out there. You need to talk to a few Costco customers before you make negative comments.

I agree with Doghouse. A solid B&W laser printer is the only way to go. Each cartridge will last you reams of paper and if you really have to have something in color (practically never), take it to a print shop. I've been running the same Laserjet 5 since 1995 and it has never let me down.

I am with all of you on saving money, but that isn't getting to the root of the problem. Why are the prices of inks going up? Are the inks made out of rare materials, what other industries are being affected with the prices of ink going up?

Do all printed materials now cost more because of this, like printers inks, product containers, and or other media such as newspapers, magazines, etc? Or are manufacturers just finding out they can charge more, and get away with it? I am more interested in why their are raising prices, other than they are....just because, and we need coupons to save money. The just because rationale...is a boring headline, in other news ink jet cartridges are going up in price again, when asked why....a spokesperson for the ink industry said, why not.

Such compelling news stories, makes me wonder where they got their online journalism degree... LOL