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Get A Black And White Printer And Save Money On Printer Ink

Have you paid more for your printer’s ink cartridges over the past year than you did for the printer itself?

Then it’s time to ditch your color printer and get a black and white printer instead. Here’s why.

I’ve had my Epson Workforce 600, a color printer, for about a year.

Up until now this was the only printer we used to serve the needs of our office and a family of five. The printer was one of those all-in-one devices capable of scanning, copying, faxing and wireless. However, there was one really irritating problem that just kept gnawing away at my hubby.

To hear him say it:

“I understand that if your printer runs out of black ink, you can’t print a black and white document like a short letter, a contract, anything. But when you only want to print a black and white letter, why do I need cyan, magenta, yellow or any other color other than black to do so?..…Grrr!!!”

You see, our printer had the nasty added feature of refusing to print anything, even in black and white, if any one of the color cartridges were empty.

Having grown weary of falling victim to what we call “the toner trap,” my husband went on eBay to find an old, used, black and white printer.

We we were expecting to buy some five-year-old, monster-sized, outdated machine — even an old dot matrix printer. However, anything would be better than paying through the nose per color cartridge or spending as much as 60 to 80 bucks for a “convenient” multicolor pack.

To his surprise, not only were there many monochrome printers available for sale, but they were new, slick looking, and some were even wireless. And not just on eBay but on online shops like Amazon (his favorite).

So, with a quick Amazon one click, the top selling monochrome printer was on order and should be arriving shortly. Not surprisingly, many of the reviewers on Amazon.com purchased their monochrome printers for the same reason that we did…to save money on printing black and white documents.

If the majority of what you are printing is in black and white…get a monochrome printer. Especially if you have a home office and want to save a few bucks in the long run.

When we desperately need to print in color, for a really short project, I’ll keep my Epson 600 around. For bigger projects, we simply get color printing done at FedEx Office.

Why Independence Day Means Financial Freedom to Me

Author: The Money Coach

When my husband, Earl, left his job as a national accounts manager for book publisher John Wiley & Sons, the very last email he sent from his corporate account carried the subject line “Independence Day.”

Like many people who leave a job, Earl (shown at right, and above with me) used his parting missive to wish his colleagues well, to thank his mentors, and to relay his future contact information.

He also took the opportunity to declare – emphatically – that he was freeing himself from working for someone else, once and for all. “I’m happy,” Earl’s email said. “I’m going to start my own business and take my consulting activities to the next level.”

And just like that, he bid his colleagues farewell.

That was in July 2002. Earl will soon be coming up on his tenth year of freedom from corporate bosses, long meetings, a 9-to-5 schedule, a grinding commute, and all the other stresses that typify life in Corporate America.

Having his own business and answering to no one (except maybe God and family) has become his new reality. And that’s what Independence Day means to Earl.

Seems my husband and I are kindred spirits.

I met Earl in 2003, the same year I went through a downsizing and lost my job as a Wall Street Journal reporter for CNBC. And I wasn’t alone: 200 of my colleagues received pink slips, too, casualties of slumping advertising revenues and fiscal challenges at my former employer Dow Jones & Co, which was the parent company of the Journal at the time.

At first, I thought it was all so unfair. But once I resolved to move on with my life – which happened pretty quickly – I decided to start my own business.

My last day on air at CNBC was March 1, 2003. That very same month, I launched my own company and began working as The Money Coach.

Thus Independence Day is also about freedom to me. Freedom in my career choices. Freedom to say “yes” to certain clients and work opportunities — and the freedom to say “no” to others. Freedom to spend my time busily writing, doing speaking engagements or promoting my books in the media. Or the freedom to do nothing at all. Read the rest of Lynnette’s article on WalletPop.

SBA Approves First Six Lenders to Start Making Community Advantage Loans

Author: The Money Coach

Community-based, mission-focused lenders will start accepting loan applications from small business borrowers immediately

The U.S. Small Business Administration has approved an initial group of six community-based, mission-focused lenders to start accepting and processing Community Advantage loan applications from small business borrowers immediately, the agency announced today.

The new Community Advantage pilot program was announced by SBA in December and is designed to expand access to lower dollar loans and lending in traditionally underserved communities. SBA and U.S. Department of Commerce studies have shown the importance of lower dollar loans to small business formation and growth in underserved communities. Even though SBA loans are three-to-five times more likely to go to women and minority-owned small businesses, underserved communities were hit disproportionately hard by the recession.

The pilot is specifically aimed at expanding points of access to capital for small business owners by opening SBA’s 7(a) loan program to community-based, mission-focused financial institutions, including Community Development Financial Institutions, SBA’s Certified Development Companies and SBA’s nonprofit microlending intermediaries. Community Advantage leverages the experience these institutions already have in lending in economically challenged markets, along with their management and technical assistance expertise to help make their borrowers successful.

“Working with these community-based, mission-focused lenders will greatly enhance our ability to bring much needed financial backing to small businesses in underserved communities, which include minority-, women- and veteran-owned, as well as rural businesses,” SBA Administrator Karen Mills said. “These businesses are among the hardest hit by the recent economic downturn and helping them to recover, expand and create jobs will strengthen both their local and our nation’s economy.”

SBA began accepting applications from lenders on Feb. 15. The first Community Advantage lenders approved by SBA are:

Cen-Tex CDC dba BCL of Texas, Austin, Texas
The Progress Fund, Greensburg, Pa.
Eastern Maine Development Corporation, Bangor, Maine
Idaho-Nevada Community Development Financial Institution, Pocatello, Idaho
Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation, London, Ky.
CDC Small Business Finance, San Diego, Calif.

These lenders may begin making Community Advantage loans immediately. SBA will continue approving lenders on a rolling basis.

Expanding opportunities for entrepreneurs and small business owners in underserved communities is core to SBA’s mission. As a result, all of SBA’s programs are having an impact in underserved communities. In addition to the Community Advantage pilot program, in December SBA announced the new Small Loan Advantage, which is open to the agency’s 630 existing Preferred Lenders.

Both Community Advantage and Small Loan Advantage offer a streamlined application process for SBA-guaranteed 7(a) loans up to $250,000. Advantage loans will come with the regular 7(a) government guarantee, 85 percent for loans up to $150,000 and 75 percent for those greater than
$150,000.