Not everyone has a printer at their home. Even if you have one, there is no point in buying a new cartridge for the sake of printing out a handful of copies. Depending on the make and model of your printer, a cartridge will cost you anywhere between $40-$100.
Besides, you will only be needing to make copies once or twice a year. Particularly, during the tax filing season or exam period(if you are a student). Why waste a hundred bucks when you can make copies near your home or workplace for free?
Here are a few places near your house or workplace to make copies for cheap or free.
1. Your apartment complex
Every apartment complex has a maintenance office where things like a copy machine, stationery, spare copies, printer, etc are present. Ask your apartment maintenance guy to use the copy machine for a few minutes. You can also use the paper and the stapler available there. This is free of cost way of making copies.
2. Ask your neighbor
Not every neighbor gets creeped out with the thought of interacting with other people in the apartment complex. Make friends with a sociable neighbor and use his/her printer for making free copies. You can return the favors by buying them a coffee or a doughnut sometime in the future.
3. At your school or college
Most schools or colleges let their students use the copy machine for free. Generally, there is a copy machine somewhere around the student section where you can ask the person in charge to make some copies for you. This free of cost way of making copies will save you a lot of money.
The amount you save depends on how much study material you need to be copied. Law students use a ton of study material. So do engineering students.
4. At your workplace
Making copies at your workplace without permission from your employer can get you in some trouble. But it is fine if your company allows it’s employees to use the copy machine for free. You can also take your seniors permission, in case you need something urgently printed.
5. Costco
Everyone knows how unusual Costco is. Now they also have made it possible for you to upload your material(that needs to be printed) on their website and pick the copies the next day. You can do all this for $0.17 per print(4×6 prints).
If the Costco Photo Centre is far away from your home or you don’t have to the time to visit them, you can also order the copies directly at your doorstep(in 5-7 business days).
Costco is cheap to get regular A4 size copies(needed in tax filing, exam preparations, school assignment submission). It is a bit expensive for posters and collages.
6. A local store near you
This should the obvious choice for most of you, but it will cost you a few cents per copy. If spending a few bucks is not a big deal, head straight to your local copy store and get your copies in minutes.
Usually, these stores are run by local businessmen. And they are located near a University, school, a busy area, business street, or near a court.
According to a report by OfficeLink, a black and white copy can cost an average of $0.05 to $0.08, and a page with color costs around $0.12 to $0.15.
Summary
This post may seem unnecessary for some people as no one wants to fuss about making free copies. But for those who are learning the ways of frugal living, it can be a great lesson to learn. By successfully getting free copies, you can break the spending pattern and learn how to communicate with people in your vicinity and get things done without paying for it.