Reader Jamear and some readers have formed a Coupon Train through the LRWC Community Forums. Through the forming of their Coupon Train, Jamear wound up with a How-to on Couponing Printing and was nice enough to pass it along so that all of us could benefit from it.
So, here is Jamear’s Coupon Printing Tips:
1. Set your printer to draft (grayscale) printing. (Check your manual or Google it.) I created a new printing “profile” called Coupons.
2. Enable print preview (usually you have to check a box). This way, you can see the coupons BEFORE they print, which comes in handy for tip #3.
3. Use half and third sheets for coupons that print with ads/recipes. (This doesn’t work for coupons that print at the bottom third; I’m still trying to figure this one out.)
4. Always double-print on the BACK. If two coupons print on the top two-thirds and you want to print another on the bottom third, print on the back so that, if the coupon ends up overlapping/overprinting/otherwise screwing up, you won’t lose BOTH coupons, you’ll just have to pick one.
5. Buy the XL ink cartridge, if available for your model. It really does save money.
6. Buy your ink at Staples. Not only do they have competitive prices, they also run coupons sometimes for 10 or 20% off your purchase (except HP ink). You get $2 for each empty ink cartridge you bring in, AND you get 10% cash back on ink and paper purchases when you sign up for their FREE Staples Rewards program (which goes fully on-line March 1st, so you get your money back faster).
7. Consider buying a different printer. I have been HP-loyal for years but after I started couponing, I realized my printer was devouring ink. Two or three cartridges a month @$20 a pop was not working for me. So I switched to a Canon Pixma at the beginning of this month (which I got for a steal from Lenovo for $60 SHIPPED through Ebates) and I’m still using the SAME cartridge. I only get two newspapers so all my other coupons come from printing. I have two laptops so I print a ginormous amount of coupons. (Did I mention my new printer’s wireless?) And the cartridge I’m using is the one that came with the printer and it’s not even an XL.
8. Get a “dummy” email address and Gmail. I have a personal account and one for coupons/offers/grocery store promos. I recommend Gmail because they have a nifty feature that up and appeared out of nowhere: When I log into one Gmail account, there’s a drop-down menu on the top right that allows me to switch to my other Gmail account, without having to log in and out. And because I use Google Chrome and Google Reader, I get all these little icons that let me know when I’ve got new mail and new posts from LRWC
Thanks Jamear for sharing this great information and for taking the time to present it to us.