HP Instant Ink Review

Hello my friends,

Today's review is not makeup related....but could be very helpful for those of you who use coupons to shop the drugstore sales!

Recently I purchased a new printer (an HP Envy 5540) and decided to try HP's new Instant Ink program since I typically buy a new round of ink every 2 months or so which as you can imagine can get costly (roughly $40 every 2 months).  Since I had a hard time finding reviews, I thought I'd take a minute to share the pros and cons of this program.  First, here's a quick overview:

What is HP Instant Ink?
It's basically a subscription service for ink.  Your printer tells HP when your ink is low, it will send you a new one without you having to do anything.

What you need to enroll?
An HP printer that is compatible with the HP instant ink program. You can find compatible printers on HP website.  Active WiFi/Internet connection.

How much does it cost?
There are 3 subscription plan options.
-50 pages printed per month for $2.99 (each 15 additional pages for $1)- rollover unused pages
This comes out to 0.06 per page whether you print full best quality color or black and white
-100 pages printed per month for $4.99 (each 20 additional pages for $1) rollover unused pages
This comes out to 0.05 per page whether you print full best quality color or black and white
-300 pages printed per month for $9.99 (each 25 additional pages for $1) rollover unused pages
This comes out to 0.03 cents per page whether you print full best quality color or black and white

Now on to the review:

Pro's:
-The savings I have had since starting this program is amazing!  With my old printer and ink, if I printed 100 pages it was empty and I'd have to spend another $40 to replace the cartridges.  Now I can print 100 pages for $5!
-I never have to go to the store to buy ink or buy online since HP sends it to me in the mail
-I like the option of being able to use over my "set" number of pages and only pay the additional page fee
-I can print the highest quality color pages and not worry about killing my ink reserve.  Since you have a page limit it doesn't matter if that page is black and white or the highest quality color image you can get.  I love this because I can print photos, high quality planner stickers, etc. and not worry about draining my color ink since it still counts as just 1 page.

Con's
-Every page counts towards your limit.  If you print a period on one sheet it counts.  If you have to align your printer or print a sheet to clean the cartridge, etc. it counts.  It doesn't add a lot, but I lose about 6 pages a month doing this.
-Rollover pages- If you hit 1 page over you get charged the $1.  That means if you don't use the additional (say 24 if you are on the $5 plan) then you just paid $1 for 1 sheet.  QUICK FIX: If you know you're going to go over, use up the full overage to get your money's worth.
-Shipping- HP sends you a refill based on your usage or average usage.  So if you print 20 pages per day, HP will figure out when you would be out and send you your ink about a week before it thinks you'd be out.  No biggie right?  Well if you decided to print 100 pages one day and 100 the next you'd throw off the average and HP will send you one out the same day it realizes you are printing a lot, but it'll take about 4-5 business days to get to you.

Overall Decision?
I say if you use your printer to print 50+ pages give or take a month then this program will be great for you!  I personally now am on the 300 page plan for $9.99 and print pictures of my kids monthly and my own planner stickers.  I don't have to worry about "wasting" my ink anymore.
If you print very little though, this probably isn't best for you since you'll be charged the monthly amount whether you use the pages or not.

All in all, I am beyond pleasantly surprised with this program!

This is my referral link and if you use it, you get 1 month free as do I:
HP Instant Ink

If you prefer not to use the link, just go to: www.hpinstantink.com to learn more about the program or sign up :)