this post was submitted on 27 Nov 2025
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I haven’t had a printer in years. Best decision I’ve made. When you don’t have one, your need for printing things seems to decrease. We just order prints at the library the 2 times a year we need to print something for like 25 cents a page
Start needing legal assistance and see your printing needs skyrocket. Gathering evidence takes a lot of paper.
Legal is when you start needed the cursed tech that is fax as well. My condolences
At least faxing apparently can go directly to and from the computer. (Never dealt with faxing myself, so can't guarantee it.)
We have young kids. So, we are printing things for them all the time. Doctor's notes, coloring sheets, copies of forms for school (reading logs, etc.), on and on.
Plus, my wife is a musician and prints out music, we print our insurance cards, baby business cards, holiday card mailing labels, etc.
We don't print every day, but enough that it's worth it. It also scans and copies, which is helpful.
So in summary, you use paper in part because you have a printer and in part because public services and offices are behind the times.
Sure, and not having one would be inconvenient.
When it comes to school, I’ve been able to get by with signing forms on my iPad and then emailing them to the school. Doctor’s notes also go by email nowadays for me. Only one that needed to be physical in the last two years was a form for self administration of a medication. If I had remembered to ask for it at the doctor’s office when we had our appointment, doctor’s office would have gladly printed it. It can be slightly inconvenient at times, but I’ve really reduced my paper usage.
Choosing to print your own insurance cards, business cards, and return labels definitely is one of those things that you find another way to do if you didn’t have a printer. My personal opinion is that having a printer makes you need to print more and that’s what I’m still hearing from your comment.
Tho I will make the caveat that printing music as a musician is pretty much a business need. But business needs are outside the scope of my advice that getting rid of a printer is extremely doable and will reduce your printing needs.
We didn't have a working printer for a few years. We spent more having stuff printed than we do printing ourselves. It's a laser printer. So, the on-going cost for us is pretty minimal. Yes, we can (and do) buy coloring books, but if the kids want to color something specific (e.g., Lego people), we can print them and the kids can color right then and there. No driving to the store, no waiting for it to be delivered. Could I get by without one, absolutely, but it is way more convenient to have one for us, and less expensive. Printing services local and online are fairly expensive these days, and the local shop is a pain to get to. They're right near the university and their parking is shit.