What is one year's worth of printer paper and ink cartridges?

[TheThirdOfHerName]

DS1 is about to start a History undergraduate degree course. He will be supplied with a printer (Canon Pixma MG5750 or similar) and will be able to claim back the cost of printer paper and ink cartridges. He has been advised to buy these in bulk before the start of the academic year, so he can claim the cost back in one reimbursement.

Storage space is not an issue as he can store bulk supplies at the family home and we (or his grandparents) will be driving to visit him approximately every six weeks.

He has no idea what one year's worth of printer paper and ink cartridges for an essay subject looks like. Up till now he has been using the family printer, shared with five others.

Any estimates welcome. Thank you.

[titchy]

Zero! All his assignments will be submitted online!

[InProgress]

I printed a lot out at the university library. My library card was also the printer card and I put money on that. I remember claiming the first £30 back. After that I topped up as and when needed.

At least 2 black and 2colour cartridges for the year. Make sure they're the cartridges that hold the most ink.


4 blocks of paper is also a good start. If he doesn't use that much in his first year order less for his second. Same with the cartridges really.

I got my kit because I'm dyslexic. I print on one side of paper and sellotape them together. Not environmentally friendly but helped me a lot. The Manchester phrasebank website is extremely useful for wording academic essays too.

[LIZS]

Ds submits all work online and in 2 years has only replaced one cartridge. Apparently some courses also require submission in hard copy though.

[InProgress]

To give you an idea my printer is the canon mg2450 and the black cartridge is 545 XL. So look for the xl or large equivalent. As it's his first year you could get more than what I said as if he doesn't use it this year he will the next.

[Asdf12345]

Hugely variable. I did a course which needed large amounts of printing for the first three years (we were sent every set of notes to print out and annotate during lectures), I averaged 2500 sheets a year.

[Asdf12345]

My better half borrowed my printer a small handful of times over those three years to print boarding passes. Her course was very low printing it would seem.

[InProgress]

It will be for printing journals to read as well as essays and assignments.

[BikeRunSki]

Who is reimbursing him? Surely he’ll need to supply receipts?

[TheThirdOfHerName]

Thank you all; really appreciate the advice.

Even if his assignments are all submitted online, he still needs to print stuff; for example he will take lecture notes using Sonocent and would like to print these and have a paper copy to file and revise from.

InProgress not sure if his allowance includes printing done on university printers but it's worth him checking.

[argumentativefeminist]

I'd say 3 of the packs of printer paper, and about 4 black ink cartridges, and maybe 3 coloured ones. All of my submissions were online, but I really struggle to proofread on a screen so I had to print them out any way. And printing out the research notes for the essay was easier for me than going through loads of tabs.

[MrsRubyMonday]

If it's recommended, I would ask the uni whether they have an estimate. It's impossible to say, I had to submit everything in hard copy and duplicates for big projects and dissertation. Having my own printer was useful as several friends had to trek to campus to print using the uni printers before deadlines and there were queues or there was never a computer free. Black is usually used up much faster than colour, so I would do 4/2 and probably 2/3 packs of paper, based on my usage.

[TheThirdOfHerName]

Yes, he keeps the receipts and submits them with a DSA form to student finance.

[TheThirdOfHerName]

Thank you for the estimates and black ink to colour ink ratios. All useful for his planning.

[Sgtmajormummy]

I bought a Hp Envy (automatic ink delivery as it runs low) printer for DS and 3 flatmates. They did use it and appreciated it, as printing on campus is slow and complicated.
However I checked their statement online and they’ve printed less than 300 pages in 1 year. They’re all in scientific courses.

[Sgtmajormummy]

300 pages is 1 pack of paper and their monthly ink subscription is £2.99 for max 50 pages plus 50 rolled over.
I think it’s a good deal, knowing what a hassle it can be to run out of ink, but he got a shock when a mysterious “recorded delivery” had to be picked up.

[PattiStanger]

Ime you can buy paper cheaply from large 24 hour supermarkets and ink next day delivery from amazon so I wouldn't worry about not buying enough. Does he just not want to have to make more than claim or is there another reason to buy upfront?


Tbh it's probably pretty hard to correctly estimate before you have started the course.

[LIZS]

Ds keeps his lecture notes on his ipad. He has never been offered ink or paper by dsa

[MarchingOrders]

@LIZS I'm pretty sure DSA is for disabled students?
I'd only buy one set of ink cartridges op, they last ages!

[LIZS]

Yes Ds gets DSA - exam access arrangements, one to one support, use of ipad/laptop, recording software, book rest etc. Consumables have not come up.

[donajimena]

I print a lot! I can't help but feel wasteful by doing so but I struggle to proof read on screen. I have to print my essays and proof read. Make alterations on paper. Then update and submit online.

[TheThirdOfHerName]

LIZS I think what's offered is different for each student based on their needs.

[LIZS]

Agree, ds doesn't seem to need to print much out, he is happy to work mainly online, and his course is not printing heavy.