I was the epitome of a cheap college student. I bought clothes off the clearance racks, only ever tipped a dollar and stressed over having enough money for spring break.

I should mention, before my griping becomes excessive (and I sound unappreciative), my parents did help me out from time to time (thanks parents!), and I usually worked 10-20 hours a week. But none the matter, the “I’m-totally-broke” feeling never lingered far from my mind. Let me just put it this way – I lost sleep over this.

So like other sleepless college students who don’t have Daddy’s credit card, I always bought the cheap stuff. Surprisingly, most of it lasted through the wear and tear of four college years. But if there’s one cheap, very regrettable purchase to mention, it’s the printer; Or rather the four printers.

In short, I chucked the first one by second semester freshman year (it was really slow and stopped working after 5 months). I repeated this “printer chucking” ritual every year. My big “Oops! I –should-have bought-the-nice-printer” moment actually came after the first printer purchase, but I couldn’t shake my cheap college mindset until the fourth time around.

Learn from my mistake(s) on this one - just spend a little extra for the nice printer. I’ll even list a few for you to browse through. Plus, by ordering from Next Day you’ll save on the shipping charge (it’s free for orders over $50.00!).

HP® Deskjet 460cb Mobile Inkjet Printer ($299.00)

HP® Deskjet 6940dt Color Inkjet Printer ($149.99)

HP® Photosmart D7260 Color Inkjet Printer ($129.99)

HP® Photosmart C4250 All-In-One Color Inkjet Printer ($99.99)

HP® Photosmart C5280 All-In-One Color Inkjet Printer ($129.99)

HP® DeskJet F4180 All-In-One Printer/Copier/Scanner ($79.99)