In the age of AI assistants, hybrid workflows, and standing desks that tweet your posture stats, you’d think paperclips and toner would be extinct. But the humble office supply closet still holds secrets—often expensive ones. And if you’re not watching closely, those costs quietly bleed your budget dry. Here’s the surprising part: you can slash those costs without making your team suffer. It’s not about eliminating what they need—it’s about making smarter decisions about how they get it.

1. Stop Treating the Supply Cabinet Like a Black Hole

The first step? Visibility. Track usage. Not in a “hover-over-shoulders” way, but with simple inventory software or even a shared spreadsheet. When you know what gets used, what gets wasted, and what mysteriously vanishes, you can start making informed choices.

Some companies discover they order pens monthly because one team hoards them like gold. Others find they buy too many sticky notes but constantly run out of whiteboard markers. Patterns matter.

2. Go for Quality Where It Counts

This feels counterintuitive, but cheap doesn’t always equal savings. That budget box of pens that barely writes? It ends up in the bin before the week’s out. Multiply that mindset across all supplies, and suddenly “cheap” turns expensive.

For items like toner, cutting corners can be brutal. A good example is Xerox C315 cartridges. Generic refills might tempt you with the price tag, but they often jam or produce streaky prints, leading to reprints, maintenance calls, and downtime. When your printer is your productivity backbone, reliable output is non-negotiable.

Instead of ditching quality, focus on value: reliable products that last longer and work better are the cost-saving tools you’re after.

3. Rethink Your Paper Habits

Let’s talk about trees for a second. If your office still defaults to printing everything, you’ve got an opportunity. Not to go paperless—because let’s be honest, we’re not quite there—but to go paper-wise.

Switch default printer settings to duplex (double-sided). Use “draft” mode for internal documents. Encourage digital annotations and sign-offs. Even better, build workflows that don’t require printing in the first place. You won’t just save money on paper—you’ll slash toner use and wear-and-tear on your machines too.

4. Buy Smarter, Not More

Subscription-based restocking can be a trap. If you’re auto-ordering the same items every month, you’re probably wasting money. Instead, buy in bulk strategically. Toner and printer paper often come with long shelf lives—buying a larger pack when it’s on discount makes sense. But don’t do this with pens, sticky notes, or items prone to walking off desks. And always compare suppliers. Just because you’ve used the same vendor for years doesn’t mean they’re still offering the best deal.

5. Empower Employees with Limits, Not Restrictions

Let’s be real—no one likes to ask permission for a pack of Post-Its. Give teams supply budgets or quotas, and trust them to manage their own needs. Autonomy creates accountability. People tend to think twice when they know they’re managing a shared pot.

Efficiency Isn’t About Cutting Corners

It’s about cutting waste—without cutting functionality. When you view office supplies through that lens, you start seeing opportunities instead of sacrifices. And those savings? They don’t just improve your budget—they sharpen your entire operation.