Saving a few dollars every week adds up fast. Spending just $40.00 per month on office supplies computes to $480.00 per year. What could you do with $240.00?

 

1. Do you have a beautiful or favorite wall calendar? How much did it cost? The average wall calendar starts around $6.99. Instead of buying a new one, print each month on plain paper and clip it to the lower half. That is almost 25% of the savings example.

 

2. Tri-fold brochures can be rather expensive. Consider buying double-sided rack card printing instead. Not only will they be a heavier paper stock than a brochure oftentimes a gloss finish is included. These can serve multiple purposes such as a brochure, rack card, or perhaps even a door hanger. The difference in price here is at least $20.00.
3. Keep a file of used printed pages next to the printer. Print on the blank sides of previously, unwanted plain paper documents rather than discarding them. How many reams of paper can you save? I saved five in six months. That’s right I bought a case of paper once instead of twice last year, a $35.00 annual savings.
4. Set an inkjet printer to draft mode to save ink. Adjust only when formal print documents are necessary. This provided me approximately 50% more in printed pages. In my office most documents are faxed or emailed anyway allowing me to use a low quality setting and double-sided printing. This really speaks to digital storage as well. Storing documents digitally save a ton of paper!
5. Rather than buying mechanical pencils, invest in an electric or table mount pencil sharpener. Number two pencils cost about one-third the price of mechanical pencils not to mention their longevity. A dozen store brand wood pencils cost just over $1.00 whereas a dozen store brand mechanical pencils cost about $6.00.

 

It is easy to see the dollars add up. Do you have a favorite home office tip for saving money? Please do share it with us!