Deskjet vs Laser Printers: When is it Worth it to Switch?

We’ve all been there—printing out worksheets, flashcards, and lesson plans like there’s no tomorrow, only to find that your ink runs out just when you need it most. If your deskjet printer is starting to feel more like a money pit with all those cartridge replacements, you might be wondering if a laser printer would save you some cash (and frustration) in the long run. Let’s dive into the numbers to figure out at what point a laser printer becomes the smarter choice for your homeschooling needs.

Deskjet vs. Laser Printer: A Closer Look at the Costs

Deskjet Printers are often the default choice for many families due to their low upfront cost, typically ranging between $50 and $150. However, the real expense comes with ink cartridges. Standard ink cartridges cost around $30 and print between 200 to 300 pages. This means the cost per page is roughly 7.5 to 11 cents for black-and-white printing. If you’re printing 300 pages per month, you’ll spend around $540 annually on ink alone, leading to a first-year total cost of about $640, including the initial printer cost.

Laser Printers, while initially more expensive—typically between $150 and $300—offer significant long-term savings. A toner cartridge for a monochrome laser printer costs about $80 but yields around 3,000 pages (please keep in mind this varies depending on the brand). This brings the cost per page down to approximately 2 to 5 cents. If you’re printing 300 pages per month, the total cost of toner for the year is only about $96. Adding in the initial printer cost, your first-year expense with a laser printer totals around $346.

Cost Savings of Laserjet over Deskjet over a 2 year time-frame

Conclusion: When Is It Worth the Switch?

  • Under 100 pages per month: A deskjet printer remains cost-effective at this level of printing. The savings you might get from a laser printer won’t outweigh the higher upfront cost.
  • 100-200 pages per month: At this level, the cost difference begins to shift. By the end of the first year, a laser printer will save you some money compared to a deskjet, and the savings will continue to grow.
  • Over 200 pages per month: If you consistently print more than 200 pages per month, upgrading to a laser printer will significantly reduce your printing costs over time. For high-volume homeschooling families printing 300 pages or more each month, the laser printer pays for itself within the first year and offers long-term savings.

In short, if you’re printing moderate to high volumes regularly (150+ pages a month), it’s worth investing in a laser printer to save money and time in the long run.​

I hope this helps you decide which type of printer is right for your family!

*Be sure to check out all of our printable resources at How to Homeschool for Free!*

Breaking Down the Math

For those of us who like to see a little more math, here is a clear breakdown of the costs of Deskjet vs Laser by number of pages printed:

Printing 100 Pages per Month:

  • Deskjet: First-year cost = $280 (including ink)
  • Laser: First-year cost = $282 (including toner)

For 100 pages per month, both types of printers have similar first-year costs, making a laser printer less necessary unless you value faster printing speed and sharper text.

Printing 200 Pages per Month:

  • Deskjet: First-year cost = $460 (including ink)
  • Laser: First-year cost = $314 (including toner)

At 200 pages per month, the savings with a laser printer become apparent by the end of the first year.

Printing 300 Pages per Month:

  • Deskjet: First-year cost = $640 (including ink)
  • Laser: First-year cost = $346 (including toner)

If you’re printing closer to 300 pages per month, a laser printer will save you nearly $300 in the first year alone, and that savings will compound over time as the cost of toner remains far lower than that of ink.

Other Important Considerations

Print Speed: Laser printers are significantly faster than deskjets. If you often print large batches of worksheets or lesson plans, this can be a big advantage. A laser printer can typically handle 20-30 pages per minute, compared to the 5-10 pages per minute of a deskjet.

Print Quality: Laser printers generally produce sharper and crisper text, which can be especially helpful for educational resources like worksheets, where clear and readable text is important. While deskjets perform well for photos and graphics, laser printers are better for heavy text documents.

Durability and Volume: Laser printers are designed for higher-volume printing, making them more durable over time. Deskjet printers, on the other hand, may wear out more quickly with frequent use, especially if you’re regularly printing hundreds of pages per month.

Color Printing: If you frequently need color printing, deskjet printers are often the better choice since color laser printers are much more expensive upfront. However, if most of your printing is black-and-white, a monochrome laser printer will serve you well.

***And make sure to join our How to Homeschool for Free Facebook Support Group for daily help, freebies, encouragement, and more in your homeschooling journey!***

FREE Full Alphabet Printable Tracing Page! (Upper and Lower Case)

Here is a simple and FREE full alphabet tracing page you can download and print! This includes all upper and lower case letters to give your little ones plenty of practice.

Head over here to get the FREE printable A-Z tracing page: FREE Full Alphabet A-Z Tracing Worksheet.

When you get to the landing page simply click on the image and it will automatically download the PDF.

Be sure to check out all of our free homeschool printables here at How to Homeschool for Free!

***And make sure to join our How to Homeschool for Free Facebook Support Group for daily help, freebies, encouragement, and more in your homeschooling journey!***

Make a Creative Writing Prompt Journal for Kids!

A writing prompt journal can be a great way to encourage your kids to write every day – especially in the summer when they don’t want to do “regular school” – regardless of whether your kid struggles with writing or loves it. Why are writing journals so effective? A journal allows kids to be creative and have fun without the pressure that goes along with more formal writing. It’s an awesome way for kids to exercise their writing and creativity muscles. You can keep a theme, or just let them write what they are feeling that day.

Create Your Journal Together

Sure, there are plenty of cute, pre-made writing journals out there, but this is really one of those times that making it yourself is going to benefit you and your child the most. Pick out a fun binder, choose all your favorite colors for paper and folders, and dividers, and decorate it with fun craft supplies like glitter and stickers. Make an “About the Author” page for your child to customize with fun details and pictures.

Include Different Types of Creative Writing Activities for a Writing Prompt Journal

One of the best things about writing prompt journals is that kids get chances to try out all sorts of writing. Many kids don’t like writing because they have only written in a couple of contexts. Your kids may discover a love for writing through one of these prompts. I like to type and print a page with a new prompt to put in the front of the journal for reference.

Narrative Writing

Narrative writing includes much more than writing a story. Kids can also write a personal narrative (something that happened to them written in story format), create silly stories, and retell favorite novels or movies. It’s a lot of pressure to give kids a blank page and tell them to “tell a story,” so good prompts can be incredibly helpful here.

Expository Writing

Expository writing is writing to inform. Kids get a chance to become an expert. You can create prompts around things your kids know, such as describing a favorite app or sport. Kids can also write directions or recipes.  They can write about the best ways to care for the family pet. There are so many ways to get creative with expository writing.

Writing a Letter

You can start with basic letter writing, such as writing a letter to a friend or family member. Then, you can branch into more creative areas, like writing to a state representative, a favorite book or film character, or a famous historical figure. Around the holidays, we like to write letters to our local retirement home and my kids have even gotten a few pen pals over the years! 

Recalling Memories

Journals are a great place to record memories. You can start a prompt with “Tell about a time when…” or use a picture prompt. Paste in a photo from when your children were younger and let them write about what they remember.

Using Imagination

There are many imaginative, creative writing prompts you can use. Kids can write about something completely new, like inventing a planet and its inhabitants or they can extend a favorite story by telling what happened to the characters after the ending. Kids can come up with an innovative solution to a problem or invent a new product. The possibilities are endless here.

Opinion / Persuasive 

This one is the undisputed, all-time favorite in my house. My children have some strong opinions about many things, like their mutual disdain for cooked cabbage! Do your kids have a strong opinion on one thing or seven? Well, here’s their chance to express themselves, by turning it into opinion writing.
There are many different ways to approach an opinion essay. Kids can express an opinion and support it. You can also prompt your kids to persuade someone of something, like why you should buy them a new video game console.

Compare and Contrast

This is definitely a “formal” writing format, but it goes well with opinion/ persuasive prompts. Kids simply pick two topics and write about their differences and similarities: dogs and cats as pets, bacon and sausage for breakfast, store-bought and homemade treats for holidays or social events, etc. The choices are endless, and the more creative, the better!

Reluctant Writer? Make Lists in your Writing Prompt Journal

One of my favorite ways to get reluctant writers to write is through lists. For some reason, lists aren’t as daunting as paragraphs. There’s a lot you can do with lists: top ten favorite toys, a grocery list for a favorite meal, ten places you’d like to visit, etc.

Have Fun With It!

Writing is such an important part of our dedication journey with our kids. Honing these skills in fun and creative ways helps even reluctant writers feel less confined and stretch their writing muscles. Make this writing prompt journal with your kids and open even more avenues for creativity and opportunities to learn to love writing! 

***Be sure to join our How To Homeschool For Free Support Group for daily encouragement and more great resources for your homeschooling journey!***

Top 12 FREE Geography Apps for Kids!


Learning Geography used to be as basic as passing around a globe or pointing at a flat map on the wall. Don’t get me wrong, I love the aesthetic a globe gives a room and we use ours all the time. But these days, there is a wealth of other amazing resources available to help learners of every age master their geography skills. Here are twelve of the top FREE geography apps for kids. Please note that some are available only in the App Store OR Google Play while some are available in both. Read More

Free Java Tutorial for Absolute Beginners – Full Course!

Java is one of the most widely used programming languages in the world. It’s known for its versatility, used in everything from mobile apps to web development, and it’s a great language for beginners because of its straightforwardness as a programming language  and strong community support. This makes Java a wonderful starting point for anyone interested in exploring the world of coding. If your child has been wanting to dive into Java or just try their hand at programming in general I found this wonderful free course by freeCodeCamp that will take them from absolute beginner to intermediate level programming! Read More

It is a 4 hour course and can be broken up into however many sessions they want. Here are some of the topics covered:

  • Variables & Data Types
  • Basic Operators
  • Input and Scanners
  • Conditions and Booleans
  • If/Else/Else If
  • Nested Statements
  • Arrays
  • For Loops
  • And a lot more

There is zero programming experience required before taking the class. You can check out the course at freeCodeCamp HERE.

Check out all of our posts on electives here at How to Homeschool for free!

***And make sure to join our How to Homeschool for Free Facebook Support Group for daily help, freebies, encouragement, and more in your homeschooling journey!***

10 Literature Classics to Read in Middle School!

The middle school years are a great time when it comes to finding good books for your kids to read. Kids at this age can process and discuss deeper, more difficult subjects. Unfortunately, modern young adult literature often doesn’t provide books with deep, meaningful plot lines. And sometimes the characters in those books are shallow people we don’t want our kids to emulate. Read More

***Be sure to join our How To Homeschool For Free Support Group for daily encouragement and more great resources for your homeschooling journey!***

Teach Your Monster to Read – FREE Learning Game!

It’s always refreshing to find fun, effective learning games that are completely free! Teach Your Monster to Read is a learning game that teaches new readers everything from letters to sounds, all the way to reading full sentences. The game is completely FREE on computers and $8.99 for the app in the App Store, Google Play, and Amazon App Store.

Your little one can start playing for free HERE.

They also have other learning games including Reading for Fun and Numbers and Skills!

Be sure to check out all of our posts on free educational apps here at How toHomeschool for Free!

***Be sure to join our How To Homeschool For Free Support Group for daily encouragement and more great resources for your homeschooling journey!***

ALL of our Resources on Getting Started Homeschooling in One Place!

I wanted to let you know that for those in the beginning stages of homeschooling or those looking for more ideas and continual growth as home educators our new page, How to Get Started Homeschooling for Free, is launched and ready! We’ve put together a comprehensive guide that walks you through the entire process—from understanding state laws to choosing the right curriculum—all without spending a dime.

This page is easy to navigate and filled with free resources, including curriculum options, printable planners, and educational tools to help you plan and manage your homeschooling journey effectively. Whether you’re a first-time homeschooler or transitioning from a traditional school, our guide offers practical tips tailored to different needs and learning styles. And you can always find this page easily by going to the “Getting Started!” tab on the far left side of the toolbar:

Head over to our How to Get Started Homeschooling for Free and find everything you need to begin homeschooling confidently and affordably! And feel free to share this with anyone you know that is new to their homeschooling journey or looking for more ways to more efficiently and effectively homeschool!

***And make sure to join our How to Homeschool for Free Facebook Support Group for daily help, freebies, encouragement, and more in your homeschooling journey!***

Free Printable Homeschool Report Card!

Free Printable Homeschool Report Card

Keeping track of your child’s progress throughout the homeschooling year can sometimes feel overwhelming. Between lesson plans, activities, and everyday learning adventures, finding a simple and effective way to record achievements and growth can be a challenge. That’s why this free printable homeschool report card from Highland Heritage Homeschool is such a fantastic resource. It offers a straightforward way to document your child’s academic progress, and best of all, it’s completely free! Read More

***And make sure to join our How to Homeschool for Free Facebook Support Group for daily help, freebies, encouragement, and more in your homeschooling journey!***

The BEST Advice For First-Time Homeschoolers!

Homeschooling is all about constant learning: for the children, of course, but, perhaps most importantly, for their parents! And if I’ve learned anything from the last few months of this year, it’s that parents are uniquely qualified to teach their own children, but most of them don’t realize it. I’m not sure why that is, though I do have some suspicions. We teach our babies to walk, talk, do a flip, ride a bike, hold a crayon, and brush their teeth. And yet when the subject of education comes up, we feel inadequate or unqualified. As if the first few years of their lives, those years we spent intimately understanding the distinctive way they interact with the world suddenly don’t count. Read More

There is LOTS of awesome advice in the original post here, on our How To Homeschool For Free page, and in our How To Homeschool For Free – Support Group that you can join here!

What advice would you give to first-time homeschoolers? What do you wish someone had told you before you started? Feel free to add to the list by leaving a comment below with your best advice!

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