The cost of the latest printer models has become affordable for most consumers, but the cost for ink cartridge replacement is still heavy on the pocket for many. It's a good thing there are several tricks you can do to prolong the life of your printer cartridges. Yes, your printer will eventually run out of ink and you will eventually need to buy new ink, but with these tips and tricks, you can at least delay the time for having to spend money on a new one. Here are several practical and very effective ways of extending the life of your printer's ink cartridge: Avoid Unnecessary Printing This may sound obvious, but disciplining yourself in using your printer only when necessary can save you a lot of ink. At the same time, always check a document you are printing and see whether there are portions that don't actually need to be printed such as clip arts or graphs, for instance. This is especially when you're printing something out of a web page. Sometimes, there may be colored images included in the page you want to print. Instead of printing the page directly, you can simply copy only the text that you need and paste it in Microsoft Word and print the document from there. Make it a Habit of Only Using Black & White Ink As you may already realize, color ink cartridges are a lot more expensive than black ink cartridges, so even though printing with color can make your work more attractive, try to print using black and white ink only, especially when color in the print is not really necessary. Take Advantage of Economy Printing Mode Unless you're printing a legal document or a document you're going to use for business presentation, you can print using economy setting. Most printers have this option, and even though the print may appear lighter, it is still of good quality. Using this option when printing personal files and your ink cartridge will definitely go a long way. Buy Printer Cartridges Online You may not realize it, but printer cartridges are usually sold way cheaper on the World Wide Web. Most of these online stores will beat the price of any advertised printer cartridges so you can be a hundred percent sure that you'll be able to save tons of money when you buy from them. Another thing these online printer cartridges sellers offer that local stores do not are huge discounts when you buy items from them in bulk. These tips and tricks may seem too simple, but if you make them a habit, you can rest assured that your printer ink cartridges can go a long, long way!