How to save money in the office/ Guide

Most of it in this post might not be going to be a surprise, but for those who are interested in this and also because the world is a bit in a economical crisis. Also it doesn't only save you money but also help the world with a sustainable way of printing things. And any things that save the world and your company from any money crisis should be helpful.First I want to get this out of my system, some of you might know this site the Ecofont where you can actually download a font that would save up to 20% of your ink while printing. What it does is that this font have holes which would eventually means less usage of ink, but the end result when you print it is that the font looks less black and more grayish then printing a normal font. This is actually a big marketing stunt by a design company to get attention. And there is a much easier way then using that specific font to save ink.

Ways to save inks
- However you can save ink by actually printing in a lower tint / tone percentage of black, which I mean just print in gray. 50% to 60% black are still very readable tones / tints of black which in result a much lower ink usage with any fonts you want.
- Another tip is avoiding use of Black or Bold fonts which are bigger and thicker, which end up using more inks. So how do you say this part is important then others, use italics or use a slightly different tone / tints of black darker or lighter. Playing with the tints can give good results and save more then just a specific font.
- Avoid using these thick circles • when you ad up a list of things they are thick and bold and use up allot of inks, just use thin - lines to do that.
- Also don't forget to print it in grayscale, with color printers often other colors are added to help darken the color.
- Stamp your logo / letterhead, actually using a stamp might be old but it can stamp directly in the correct color you want instead of a printer which need to print several colors to get the correct colors. Also also letting a printshop to print out your letter head cost also allot. So a one time investment could save you some money. Also stamps give cool effect which people could remember.

Save money on cartridges
- There are actually several ways, you can buy cheap brand version of the cartridge which is always cheaper but you have to search reviews of them if they do work properly. However I never heard a printed to malfunction cause of them so it should not be a major problem when using one.
- Refill your cartridge at special refill shops this always have lower cost then buying new one over and over. However they need to refill if correctly otherwise you end up with one that does not work.
- Get money return on empty cartridges, there are shops and site where you can get a certain amount of money back if you send them empty cartridges or a certain discount.
- Buy good printers, it has been tested that expensive high quality printers have lower print cost. And eventually have used less money over the years then if you have bought a cheap printer. The best brand and lowest print cost that came out are the Canon printers.

Ways to save paper
- Best tip is to print on both sides what ever you do both side means 50% less use of paper.
- Print on the back of received mails. This might sound odd, but often for designers especially when you get a mail request you also have to print something like a invoice. So if you print the invoice on the back of the received mail you can keep you administration better together plus also easier find the correct paper cause you can see the brand of that company.
- Print on backs of things you don't need. Actually for companies they get allot of advertisement mails and you can actually just use the back as a free piece of paper. A test print of a design you have to see what it looks like off your screen. Just cross the front so you know which side is important.
- Stop using post-it notes while you are sitting behind a computer. I find it so odd that people use it however might be useful when your computer is turned off but when it is one then use your computer.
- Another is use mini white boards which are not that expensive. Also I have an cheap or alternative mini white board which is a vinyl gloss white sticker sheet which you can also write on it. This sticker sheet are often used in kitchens to past on the wall, and coming a fairly large rolls. This is not that expensive and you can paste it anywhere on the office you can write everywhere. The only thing then you have to do is to buy the white board markers.

Save materials on packaging design
While designing packaging you often use allot of materials to make the prototype and often they are special thickness of cardboards.
- I have a special cardboard packaging which I save up so I can make different small packaging prototype with, and that is the packaging of a cereal box which are fairly big and have a big flat surface which you can design something on and cut it out.
- If you need bigger or thicker materials the other option is to go to a supermarket which often have a special area where they have save up some cardboard packaging which they have save up. You can always take them away for free so it is no big problem. This also means when you send something in a package you don't have to buy a neat clean box but also just re-use one.

Greedy tip
To be able to save money you need to be greedy sometimes, and that means to collect free stuffs.
- If you own a company you often will need to go to fairs / exhibitions to catch up with some networking to get new clients. Often people will be handing out allot of free stuff like blocknotes, pens and many more. Any thing free could help your company to save money so that you don't have to purchase it.

Final tip is to email as much as possible so you don't have to send letters which cost inks and paper and also sending cost. Email will only cost you energy plus some internet cost. Also buy a stapleless stapler which will use actually no staples to hold sheets together and means zero cost each time you need to use it.

These are the tips to help you all out in this economical time of crisis to save up money plus help your company to be a bit more sustainable in uses of office supplies.