If you are a frequent printer user, every month you propably spend a considerable amount of money on printer cartridges, whether you have an inkjet printer that uses printer ink cartridges or a laser printer that uses toner cartridges. These printer cartridge costs can add up to huge amounts especially on the long run. If you want to save on ink cartridge costs, you need to first figure out how much you are actually spending on your printer cartridges each month. If you believe it's time to take action and start saving on printer cartridges, you should first calculate how much printing really costs you each month. Calculating the monthly cost of printer ink or toner cartridges you spend is easy. I strongly recommend you to do the same calculation before you purchase a new printer too.

"Cost of ownership" per month is one of the most important factors to consider when buying a new
printer as you will regularly need to purchase printerink or toner cartridges for your laser or inkjet printer. This is especially importantif you have an inkjet printer. Generally, inkjet printers' cost per page is higher than laser printers' cost per page. The reason for this is that the ink cartridges need more frequent replacement. The cost per page will generally be lower with the expensive high end laser printers beacuse they hold bigger printer cartridges that do not require as often replacement. Inexpensive printers can end up costing you more because of their high ink cartridge costs.

You can simply calculate the printing cost per page by dividing the printer cartridge price by the yield. Yield is the number of pages that one printer cartridge can
print. For example, if the price of an Canon ink cartridge is $33.95 and its yield is 700 pages, then its cost per page will be $33.95/700=$0.048 (4.8 cents per page).

For calculating the monthly cost of ownership, the rule is easy. Multiply "number of prints per month with the cost of the toner or ink cartridge and divide it by the yield of the toner or ink cartridge.

For example, let's assume that you print 300 black pages per month using an Epson printer cartridge that yields 400 pages and costs $26. The monthly "cost of ownership" is:(400 pages) x ($26) divided by 300 pages = $35

If you want to lower your cost per page, consider different cartridge alternatives like the recycled reman or compatible discount ink cartridges or ink refill kits.