Since my other posts, a few of you have contacted me privately and asked how I get free ink and free inserts. Unfortunately, my free ink gravy train may be coming to an end. One of my friends is the moderator for the Staples forum on hcw, maybe she has some additional thoughts.

But, I was getting it at Staples. Staples had this fantastic program where for every ink cartridge you turn in, you get $3 in Staples rewards. The limit was 10 per month or $30. If you worked at a workplace that went through many ink cartridges like I did, I pretty much had unlimited access to used ink cartridges. Then I’d just take them to Staples, wait for my rewards certificate and go buy more. Recently Staples has changed it to $2 per cartridge, and I no longer have the unlimited access that I did. But depending on where you work or who you know, can’t hurt to ask “Hey, what do you do with your used cartridges? Mind if I take them to recycle them?” Worst that can happen is that they say no.

Staples also recently got a bit smarter, and now, if you buy something with Staples rewards, that amount is deducted from future rewards. They didn’t used to do this. So if I took my $30 in rewards, went and bought $30 worth of ink with it, I’d get the 10% purchasing reward too. It was just a matter of rolling the rewards, which they no longer allow. Or, for instance, back in the spring, they had a deal where you bought Duracell for 19.99, got 19.99 back in Staples rewards. Well, of course I purchased those batteries with ink cartridge rewards, and still got the full amount back. If I did that today, I wouldn’t get any at all. Or, if I used $10 worth of rewards on it, and $10 cash, I’d only get $10 back in rewards.

If you have access to ink cartridges, it still should be a good deal for you. You can still earn $20 a month, and the rewards are good for 2 months, so you can accumulate $40 before you have to spend them. I have at least a year’s worth of cartridges on hand, and not sure what I will do when I actually need to buy ink. but stay tuned and if I find a deal, I certainly will post it.

Inserts–
One way to get multiple inserts is to buy multiple papers. I see lots of moms do this and it makes me cringe. To spend $10 or $20 a week, you have to have some awesome deals each and every week to get that money back.

I started out by asking friends and family. Then, at my last employer, I put up a sign in the breakroom. Each week that usually got me 3-5 inserts. Then a few years ago, I approached the owners of Avon News in Avondale. Asked them if I could purchase leftover Sunday papers at a discounted rate. Even better, they said they’d pull the inserts for me! Yipppeeee! So that’s what they do. In return, I frequently bring them bags and boxes of free goodies. In fact, going to take them some Keebler snack crackers today.

Ask at your library, school, workplace, neighbors, family, local newsstand or corner grocer. I know some couponers have a deal worked out with Wawa. If you live in a region where you get the inserts in the mail on Thursdays, go to the post office that day and you’ll find many of them in the trash. And not for the timid, but hcw even offers a whole thread on tips for dumpster diving.