2 ways to save on printing: fonts and margins

The other day I was preparing to print a 22,000+ word document for a new project. Right before I hit print, I remembered a tip I heard about via Money Saving Mom a few weeks ago – different fonts can actually cost you less money to print!

Based on some extensive research, it’s been determined that of standard fonts, Century Gothic is the best font to choose to save the most ink. Compared to printing in the Arial font, you’ll save about 31% in ink if you use Century Gothic.

The article says that by switching from Arial to Century Gothic, the average user can save about $20 per year. Of course, that’s using Century Gothic on everything you print, which isn’t always going to be possible.  And if you print less than the “average” user (25 pages a week), of course your savings will be a smaller dollar amount.

Still, I definitely changed my document to Century Gothic when I remembered this tip!

Save on paper by adjusting margins

I also adjusted the margins on the document I was printing to print almost as far to the edge of the paper as it will print. I think I probably saved more on paper by doing this than I saved on ink by switching fonts.

So, next time you go to print something as a draft or proofreading copy, try one or both of these tips and you’ll save a few pennies for a few seconds of effort.

What are your other favorite money-saving tips for printing?  We’ve saved some on toner refills by purchasing refill kits from Amazon, but I know a lot of people’s experiences with that are hit-or-miss as to how well the refill kits work.