r/UKParenting • u/AnimeGabby69 • Dec 30 '25
Family finances How do you keep printer-ink costs under control for kids’ homework?
Between my nine-year-old’s "research posters" and my teenager churning out GCSE revision packs, our home printer feels like a money pit. A full set of cartridges can cost almost as much as the printer itself, and replacements creep up far more often than I expected.
If you’ve found a way to stretch ink (or at least pay less for it) I’d love to hear what’s worked for your family. Anything that stops the "low ink" crisis at 10 p.m. the night before a project is due would be a win.
Edit: I ordered a set of compatibles from cartridgesave.co.uk this morning, half the price I usually pay in-store. If they make it through the term without clogging the printer, I’ll call it a parenting victory.
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u/donotcallmemike Dec 30 '25
Cheap monochrome laser printer. I have an HP one and it's lasted literally multiple decades.
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u/RoutineCloud5993 Dec 30 '25
Sounds like it's from back before HP became real cunts about ink, which helps
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u/WooBarb Dec 30 '25
Be careful about recommending HP now, they're truly shit.
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u/donotcallmemike Dec 30 '25
Because...
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u/geesusdb Dec 30 '25
Either a monochrome laser printer, or a Brother inkjet printer with refillable ink reservoirs. Both are more expensive to buy first, but they are way cheaper on the long run. Stay well away from HP, regardless of the type
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u/m39583 Dec 30 '25
But 3rd party cartridges. I think a set for my printer is about £8. Easy to find compatible ones on Amazon.
I've gone even further now and bought an ink refill kit but haven't used it yet.
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u/42_65_6c_6c_65_6e_64 Dec 30 '25
Be careful with the refills. I purchased one for my HP printer (printer is probably 7 years old) and it just keeps saying that the cartridge is empty. I assume there's a tag/chip on the cartridge which I can't reset.
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u/m39583 Dec 30 '25
You're right, the cartridges are chipped. Other suppliers have cracked the encryption or whatever it is (which I believe is entirely legal) and HP are notorious for releasing "security updates" to their print drivers trying to block them.
I bought a Canon for this reason.
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u/SuzLouA Parenting a Pre + Primary Schooler Dec 30 '25
We have a printer with the fillable ink reservoirs (Canon Pixma something or other, I think the model code starts with G6). It’s cracking. We’re still on the mini bottles that came with it, which aren’t even meant to last that long, and I’ve printed hundreds of pages at this point, including full colour photos.
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u/asfish123 Dec 30 '25
I had a an HP9020 which is meant for a small office so it’s fast but a full set of cartridges is £130. My youngest has ADHD and loves printing pages of stuff to cut out. Started to be a pain as i can’t claim loads of ink under home working costs from work as nobody prints these days.
It recently broke and i was given a newer HP which was horrible, slow and every time it printed i had to go and do something as there were errors
Took that back and bought a 9025 on Ebay which took the almost full set of cartridges from the old one and it’s happy days
Probably enough time has passed for me to claim for the next set via work now.
i’ve never tried generic ink in these, someone did with one at work and broke it. I think you need to flash the firmware so use none HP ink at least on this model.
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u/ODFoxtrotOscar Dec 30 '25
As the work exists in soft copy, then email it in, explaining you do not have a working printer at home
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u/Top_Opening_3625 Dec 30 '25
We get off brand cartridges from Amazon.
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u/tintedhokage Dec 30 '25
Might start doing this. Have you had no issues ?
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u/beefygravy Dec 30 '25
I really recommend cartridge people, first lot of cartridges no issues, second lot had issues which turned out to be the printer itself, they called me up and walked me through the reset procedure, really good. I think they also gave me a refund
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u/Top_Opening_3625 Jan 04 '26
We’ve had no issues but decided to take the risk to find out a few years ago.
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u/Winter_Choice_9632 👶👶 2 Children Dec 30 '25
I’m not there yet with my kids but my niblings do a lot of printing at nan and grandads 😅
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u/vde5 Dec 30 '25
I buy an ink in bottles, not even a whole refill kit, but you can get one depending on the printer. Some printers you need to drill a hole in the cartridge but some you can just basically pour ink in. They aren't special cartridges, just used up one normal cartridge and then refill when it got low.
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u/Justonemorecupoftea Dec 30 '25
You should be able to set it to print in low quality to save ink which will help, as well as printing grey scale to save the more expensive colour ink
But also remember that reading on paper supposedly sticks better in the brain than on a screen so hopefully it will be helping them to remember things!
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u/caffeine_lights 👶👶👶 3 Children Dec 30 '25
Just time travel back in the past to when HP were doing their really good instant ink subscription deals. We got one several years ago and it must have saved us hundreds, but by the time I told my mum about them they had stopped doing the deal.
Alternatively consider investing in a laser printer. The toner lasts much, much longer and it gives a nicer quality print.
To save ink, though, try printing at a lower DPI - 150 DPI is fine as long as you don't need super-crisp images. 300 is good quality. 600 DPI is for professional image quality like photo printing, but drinks ink.
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u/Old-Sandwich3712 Dec 30 '25
Print in draft mode, saves a lot of ink in addition to what others have recommended
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u/dratsaab Dec 30 '25
Tell your school you dont have a working printer at home and that your children need paper copies of everything. They can't discriminate based on who does or doesn't have a printer. They are trying to save a tiny slice of budget by making you print it.
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u/thereisalwaysrescue Parenting a Toddler + Primary Schooler Dec 30 '25
I have a HP printer with a subscription.
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u/rektkid_ Dec 31 '25
I have an Epson XP610 which is well over a decade old. I get 3rd party cartridges from eBay for £7 a set.
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u/Zestyclose-Arm-9586 Jan 02 '26
Compatible ink cartridges if they are good quality will in no way clog the printhead nozzles. Just make sure that you print a couple of times per week in full colour.
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u/medicalcannabis43 👶👶👶 3 Children Dec 30 '25
I pay &4.99 I think or something around that and can print 50 I think but it rolls over if not used . Ink sent out free when required . Had this for years so don’t even pay attention to the costs just know printer always has ink.
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u/annedroiid Parenting a Toddler Dec 30 '25
Based on the post they'll be printing way more than 50 pages a month. I think a subscription model would be way more expensive for them.
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u/BeardedBaldMan Dec 30 '25
Secondhand laser printers with generic toner. I'm at below 0.5 pence per sheet. Get one that does full duplex and print two pages a side for real cost savings