B ought my self a printer for Xmas, $79 on special. The replacement cartridges cost about $80!. DD said just buy a new printer each time. The printer is an Epson Stylus TX 110, the trick is that it has individual cartridges, black gets used most, so I can just replace the black. The black cartridge comes in 2 sizes so I buy the big one for not much more than the small one. Since mid Dec. I have used 1 black to 1/2 of the other colors. Hope this helps as a starting point.